Gaming for Physical Fitness
| Project Leader | Project Co-leader |
| Nicholas Graham Queen’s University |
Regan Mandryk University of Saskatchewan |
Video gaming can be used to motivate people to begin and maintain a program of physical activity. We examine what design elements in games increase peoples’ motivation to become and remain physically active, and whether this actually provides sufficient exercise to produce health benefits.
Tools to support common input styles in exercise video games help programmers focus on the game itself rather than low-level input capture. Measuring exercise through direct and indirect sensor data and more accurate and reliable representations of player fitness are key goals. Investigating whether cognitively-stimulating games can increase mental fitness or create “cognitive reserve” to delay or ameliorate expression of Alzheimer’s disease offers exciting possibilities.
GAMFIT will harness the popularity of computer and video gaming to maintaining and improving physical and cognitive well being.