Results show that based on existing technologies and user needs, the idea of employing wearables activity trackers for gamification of exercise and fitness is feasible, motivating, and engaging.

Abstract

Wearable technologies are a growing industry with significant potential in different aspects of health and fitness. Gamification of health and fitness, on the other hand, has recently become a popular field of research. Accordingly, we believe that wearable devices have the potential to be utilized towards gamification of fitness and exercise. In this paper, we first review several popular activity tracking wearable devices, their characteristics and specifications, and their application programming interface (API) capabilities and availabilities, which will enable them to be employed by third party developers for the purpose at hand. The feasibility and potential advantages of utilizing wearables for gamification of health and fitness are then discussed. Finally, we develop a pilot prototype as a case-study for this concept, and perform preliminary user studies which will help further explore the proposed concept.