Development of an occupational health care exergaming prototype suite

Abstract

Work-related health afflictions are a major concern as they may affect the ability for one to carry out daily activities and negatively affecting the quality of life. Possible causes have been associated with sedentary, repetitive movements, bad postures, and lack of occupational health exercises. Aside from the health consequences, there is also concern about the loss of productivity and its associated costs, in addition to the treatment costs (which in some cases may require attending to specialized facilities). The standard approach to minimize such risks involves preventive exercises at the workplace and annual medical examinations. Typically, employees are provided with printed or multimedia guides to educate them regarding work-related afflictions and preventive steps that can be taken to prevent them. However, such educational material generally does little to motivate employees to start and maintain a preventive exercise program. Exergaming (that is video games that incorporate exercise), are capable of motivating users into starting and maintaining an exercise program. In this book chapter, we present the development of an exergaming prototype suite to address common work-related preventive exercises associated with the lower-limb, upper-limb, hands, and eyes. By using a gaming scenario we are capable of providing the player with compelling interactions and game play experiences that allow increasing motivation to exercise, while tracking the player’s movements and using that information as part of a medical assessment.