Mobile Exergames: Exploring Methods for Generating Challenges based on the Context of Physical Interaction

Abstract

As mobile technology evolves, so does the mobile game industry. With smartphones almost as powerful as desktop computers or game consoles, development of mobile games increases. Inheriting the physical interaction that exergames provide, like those released for Microsoft Kinect, Nintendo Wii or PlayStation Move, mobile exergames aim to deliver physically-interactive experiences through the use of mobile devices. The immersion in games comes from balancing the skill level at completing a predefined challenge to the difficulty of the mechanics which compose that challenge. On mobile exergames, the player's location and motion information compose the mechanics that are developed. The primary goal of this project is to design, develop and evaluate a mobile exergames framework that can speed-up the development of new and more immersive exergame mechanics based on user context retrieved from location and motion sensors on a mobile decive. To achieve those goals, I started by performing a review on the topic of exergames, location-based games and mobile games, their design, development and problems. The result of the study provided enough information to define the core elements that should compose a mobile exergames framework. The core elements were then mapped into modules and structures and services that could feed the framework in a way that allowed developers to create mobile exergames based on new physically-interactive mechanics. To evaluate the results of project, the framework was tested with the development of a mobile exergame. The conclusion is that the expected resulting framework provides enough flexibility to create new exergame mechanics and that it can be integrated with other mechanics, such as storytelling and location-based.