Exergaming

Exergaming (formed from "exercise" and "gaming") is a term used for video games that also provide exercise. Exergames have one element of exercise and one element of gaming. The "gaming" aspect is a short form for video gaming. "Exergames" sub divide into two main implementations, those with a game specifically designed to use an exercise input device and those implementations using a genre of, or a generic game.

Games fit in to the category of entertainment, and similarly Exergames are a category of Exertainment (formed from "exercise" and "entertainment"). Exertainment includes one aspect of innovation or entertainment to an exercise work out.

History
Exergaming contains elements that were developed in the virtual reality community during the 1980s. The pioneer in this area was Autodesk, which developed two systems, the HighCycle and Virtual Racquetball. The HighCycle was an exercise bike that a user would pedal through a virtual landscape. If the user pedaled fast enough, the virtual bike would take off and fly over the landscape. Virtual Racquetball tracked the position and orientation of an actual racquet that was used to hit a virtual ball in a virtual environment. This environment was shared with another user equipped with another tracked racquet, allowing the two users to play each other over phone lines. In both systems, the users could wear the VPL eyephones, an early Head-mounted display (HMD), that would provide more immersion for the user.

The first true attempt at what would later be called Exertainment was the Atari Puffer project (1982). This was an exercise bike that would hook up to an Atari 400/800 or 5200 system. Forward speed was controlled by pedaling while steering and additional gameplay was handled by a handlebar-mounted gamepad. The machine was nearly ready for production with several games (Tumbleweeds and Jungle River Cruise) when Atari declared bankruptcy and the Puffer project was abandoned. Nintendo also dabbled in this space with the PowerPad in the late 1980's.

The first exergaming system released to the market was the 1986 Computrainer. Designed as a training aid and motivational tool, the Computrainer allowed users to ride through a virtual landscape generated on a Nintendo NES, while monitoring data such as power output and pedaling cadence. The product had a price that was far too high to be considered as an entertaiment product, but was affordable by dedicated athletes. The product continues to this day, where it now runs using Microsoft Windows compatible software with extensive graphic and physiological capabilities.

About the same time as the Computrainer, Concept II introduced a computer attachment for their rowing machine. This has become their eRow product and is used for both individual motivation as well as competition in "indoor rowing leagues"

During the 1990s, there was a surge of interest in the application of "virtual reality" technologies to high-end gym equipment. Life Fitness and Nintendo partnered to produce the Exertainment System; Precor had an LCD-based bike product, and Universal had several CRT-based systems. The Netpulse system provided users with the ability to browse the web while exercising. Fitlinxx introduced a system that used sensors attached to weight machines in order to provide automated feedback to users.

The most sophisticated of these entries was the Tectrix VR Bike. Developed originally by CyberGear Inc., The VR Bike allowed users to pedal through a number of virtual environments as well as engage in single and multiplayer games. It was joined later by the VR Climber.

Three issues combined to ensure the failure of these systems in the marketplace. First, they were significantly more expensive than the equivalent models that did not have all the additional electronics. Second, they were harder to maintain, and were often left broken. Lastly the additional expertise required to operate the software was often intimidating to the users, who shied away from the machines out of fear that they would look foolish while trying to master the machine.

For about 10 years, nothing significant happened in the field of videogame exercise. Hardware was still too expensive for the average home consumer, and the health clubs were gun-shy about adopting any new technology. As high-performance game console capabilities improved and prices fell, manufacturers once more started to explore the fitness market, but this time with the home as the focus of development.

The most recent development is the Nintendo Wii, which has taken exergaming to the public on a massive scale. This move by a major brand name has been matched with another in the Fisher-Price Smart Cycle.

Recent activity
Exergaming came to the mass media attention at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2004 where a pavilion was dedicated to video game technology that also worked as sports and exercise equipment. Exergames "evolved from technology changes aimed at making videogames more fun."

Examples of Exergames include: NeoRacer, Dance Dance Revolution, ExerStation/Kilowatt, EyeToy, Wii Sports and Gamercize.

Examples of Exertainment include: Yourself!Fitness, Expresso Fitness S2, Wii Fit

Recent studies
Eyetoy Kinetic - Thin AG, Howey D, Murdoch L & Crozier A (July 2007). Evaluation of physical exertion required to play the body movement controlled Eyetoy Kinetic video game. Life Sciences 2007, SECC, Glasgow, Scotland.

Wii Sports - Professor Tim Cable (February 2007). School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, John Moores University, Liverpool, England.

Design considerations
When making an exergaming system, the manufacturer of a consumer product must make the decision as to whether the system will be usable with off-the-shelf games or if custom software must be written for it. Because it takes longer for a user to move their entire body in response to stimulation from the game, it is often the case that dedicated software must be written for the game to playable. An example of this is Konami's Dance Dance Revolution. Though designed to be played by users moving about on a specially designed dancepad, that game can alternatively be played by pushing buttons with one's fingers using a standard hand-held gamepad. When played with the dancepad at higher levels the game can be quite challenging (and physically exhausting), but if the game is played using the buttons on the hand controller, none of the sequences are terribly difficult. A system that uses the major muscle groups and still provides rapid enough response times for so-called "fast twitch" games is the Powergrid Fitness Kilowatt. The Kilowatt incorporates strain gauges in its controller post that converts the forces that the user applies against the controller into the equivalent of controller thumbstick input. The system can incorporate forces of up to 300 pounds (135 kg) into game play.

Trends
Newer systems such as the EyeToy and Wii utilize alternative input methodologies. The EyeToy uses image analysis to extract the motion of the user against a background and uses these motions to control the character in the game. A specifically-designed exercise game Kinetic, superimposes animated objects to be punched, kicked, or otherwise interacted with over a video image of the user. The Wii and Playstation3 both incorporate motion sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes into the hand-held controllers that are used to direct behaviors within the game.

Exergaming systems are also re-entering the commercial gym. In response to the growing concern with childhood obesity, health clubs are starting to introduce "kidzones". These are special-purpose areas that contain a mix of exergaming systems targeted at children and young adults. A pioneer in this area was the YMCA, which has been putting these areas into its clubs since 2004. More recently, dedicated exergaming centers such as the XRtainment Zone (http://www.xrtainmentzone.com), co-founded in August 2006 by Dr. Ernie Medina, Jr. and Attorney Joel Peterson, are starting to open up across the USA and Canada. The XRtainment Zone's Family FitZone program is the first 7-week exergaming fitness program subsidized by an insurance company.