Born to Run, Programmed to Play: Mapping the Extended Reality Exergames Landscape

Title of the Paper

Born to Run, Programmed to Play: Mapping the Extended Reality Exergames Landscape

Paper Information

• Domain: Applications of Human-Computer Interaction and Extended Reality Technologies in Exergames
• Keywords: Extended Reality, Mixed Reality, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Exergames, Active Games, Exercise Video Games, Motion Games, Review, Taxonomy

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems or Challenges:
  • Globally, 27.5% of adults and 81% of adolescents fail to meet the World Health Organization's recommended levels of physical activity, leading to deteriorating health conditions.
  • Traditional exergames have not fully leveraged technological advancements and lack structured research on spatial interaction and immersive design in exergames.
  • The field of XR exergames is rapidly evolving, but research lacks systematic classification, making information dissemination challenging.
• Significance:
  • Modern technology is considered a potential solution to societal health issues. XR exergames, by combining physical activity with immersive gaming experiences, can promote positive health behaviors.
• Research Motivation and Related Work:
  • Existing research and reviews only cover specific areas, and a comprehensive analysis and classification of XR exergames are still lacking.
  • The integration of XR with exergames offers unique advantages (e.g., immersion, customization) but also presents design challenges, such as safety concerns and technological limitations.
  • Developing a systematic taxonomy can provide guidance for designers and researchers and help identify unresolved research issues in the field.

Solution

• Proposed Methods or Solutions:
  • Adopt a "scoping review" approach to systematically analyze XR-based exergames.
  • Propose a taxonomy based on five dimensions: "Goals, Population, Exercise, Design, Technology" (GPEDT).
  • Use the taxonomy development method proposed by Nickerson et al., employing iterative analysis and data-driven approaches to create a hierarchical classification model.
• Innovations:
  • Provide a classification standard based on an interdisciplinary perspective of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
  • Combine quantitative and qualitative analyses to offer a comprehensive overview of existing research, revealing trends and knowledge gaps.
  • Offer detailed research direction suggestions to guide the future design and evaluation of XR exergames.
• Implementation Steps:
  • Design a search protocol and extract 1,318 exergame-related papers from ACM, Scopus, and PubMed databases.
  • Conduct an in-depth analysis of 186 eligible papers, examining aspects such as goals, user groups, design features, and technological setups.
  • Develop a hierarchical taxonomy with five dimensions based on the analysis results.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Results:
  • Conducted a comprehensive analysis of 200 XR exergames (20 commercial games, 175 custom games) from 186 papers.
  • Proposed a taxonomy covering seven goals (e.g., physical training, medical rehabilitation, social facilitation), four types of exercises (e.g., full-body movement, upper-limb movement), seven design themes (e.g., sports, daily life activities, fantasy scenarios), and five technological setups (e.g., mobile and stationary devices).
  • Identified key trends in the field, such as the dominance of virtual reality (VR) devices, insufficient research on social interaction and multiplayer modes, and a lack of studies on the long-term effects of exercise interventions.
  • Provided a series of guiding questions for designing and researching XR exergames to facilitate clear reporting of research findings.
• Advantages Over Existing Solutions:
  • More comprehensive classification dimensions and scientific quantification methods help clarify research trends and gaps.
  • Offers clear design guidance and research recommendations, supporting early-career researchers and practitioners.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • Quantitative analysis revealed that over 50% of related studies were published in the past three years, reflecting the rapid growth of the field.
  • Qualitative analysis highlighted the characteristics and issues of exergames designed for different user groups (e.g., children, older adults).
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • Limitations include barriers to information flow due to inconsistent terminology and insufficient depth of research in some areas (e.g., cultural adaptability, social interaction).
  • Proposed nine future research directions, including developing games better suited for users of different age groups, increasing research in non-Western countries, exploring long-term intervention effects, and understanding mechanisms for sustained exercise motivation.

By utilizing the GPEDT taxonomy, users can systematically design, evaluate, and report their XR exergame applications. These contributions pave the way for further interdisciplinary collaboration and deeper research in the field.