An Exercise Game Reflecting Heart Rate

Abstract

Lack of exercise is known to be detrimental to health, and various exercise machines that can be used indoors in a convenient manner are available. However, because expertise is required to ascertain which exercise to do and for how long, people sometimes sustain injuries by exercising excessively and find it difficult to sufficiently benefit from exercising. Therefore, fitness machines with automatic controls are being developed so that people can exercise efficiently, and exercise programs are being designed with game elements to encourage regular exercise. Monotonous exercise makes it difficult for people to experience a sense of accomplishment while exercising, and if the degree of difficulty is not set properly, people cannot perform the appropriate amount of exercise. The present study proposes a fitness game method in which heart rate is measured in real time while playing a game and the contents of the game are actively adjusted based on heart rate, thus allowing users to perform sufficient amounts of exercise and experience a sense of accomplishment. A fitness game based on boxercise movements was designed based on the present method and then evaluated.