www.abertay.ac.u k
Determination of Physical Effort in Excergames Gordon Brown, Lecturer, Division of Games & Arts, Abertay University Email: g.brown@abertay.ac.uk Research Questions In what ways can video game art and design methodologies impact physiological performance within the context of a virtual environment?
Overview Visual design in current cycling eSports has predominately been simulation based with little aesthetic exploration. This research proposes an aesthetic led approach to virtual cycling excergaming development. Physical effort will be measured and evaluated to determine if there is any performance improvement when participants use an aesthetically driven cycling excergame. To explore the potential impact of art practices on athletic human performance four distinct research areas will be considered: video game art practice, video game design theory, sports physiology, and human interaction design. Captured data will inform a broad spectrum of exploratory and reflexive practice, and continued experimentation. The main research areas are diverse and dissimilar, however all share commonalities and can be connected principally through aesthetics. Visual aesthetic development will be the foundation of the research and will focus strongly on art production and methodologies. The output of the research will include a suite of prototype exergames, an extensive portfolio of artwork that will include digital avatars. The research aims to qualify and challenge the hypothesis that game art can impact human athletic performance. The findings will contribute to the advancing field of eSports and provide novel discourse and best practices to industry practitioners and academics interested in this field of research.
Sub-Questions 1.How can indoor cycling performance be improved in athletes through virtual avatar aesthetics? 2.What lessons in human interface design can be learned from current video game industry practices and applied to excergaming and virtual indoor cycling? 3.What impact does non-simulation based visual aesthetics have on player engagement, and to what extent can this influence athletic performance?
Methodology Two prototype cycling excergames have been created which will facilitate the pilot study and the first follow-up study. The first prototype – “T-Wrecks” uses pedaling speed to control lateral avatar movement within the 3 lanes in the virtual environment.
Methodology Cont This unorthodox approach requires a physical and cognitive intervention from the player to successfully negotiate obstacles, collect items and complete the level. The game mechanic resembles the popular mobile game genre “runner”. During the pilot study participants will play this prototype, and also complete a ramp test protocol on the lode bike in the sports lab. Heartrate, power and qualitative data will be captured and analysed. Peak heartrate and power will be compared to determine overall intensity of physical effort.
The second prototype “Evolution Cycle” uses power to determine the scale of the onscreen character avatar. The player must pedal with more power to gain strength to break though objects, or less power to reduce size to fit though small apertures. The follow-up second study will use this prototype.
Abertay University is an operating name of the University of Abertay Dundee, a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC016040.