Usability assessment of a virtual fitness platform on smart TV for elderly health promotion

Abstract

The elderly maintain healthy by exercise and friendships connection which not only can reduce the cost of social care but also can contribute their knowledge and experiences to help the younger generation. This study is aimed to investigate the usability and functionalities of the fitness platform with multi-user virtual situations on smart TV service content, which was developed by the author. The main modules of the platform include limb movements driven by motion sensing interaction with Kinect, contactless graphical user interface, alternative 3D avatars and situational environments, synchronous interaction of distributed multi-users, and interface of unified computing health data. Group interview and a questionnaire were designed to evaluate the feasibility and usability associated with using the virtual fitness platform. A total of 40 elderly users assess this set of content service. The results of this study showed that most of the users are satisfied by the system functionality and usability. Furthermore, the platform also offers the interface for data connecting the wearable devices which assist in increasing the effectiveness of the real time elderly health maintenance.