VI-Tennis: A vibrotactile/audio exergame for players who are visually impaired

Tony Morelli, John Foley, Luis Columna, Lauren Lieberman, Eelke Folmer

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/PoemConference contribution

103 Scopus citations

Abstract

Lack of physical activity is a serious health concern for individuals who are visually impaired as they have fewer opportunities and incentives to engage in physical activities that provide the amounts and kinds of stimulation sufficient to maintain adequate fitness and to support a healthy standard of living. Exergames are video games that use physical activity as input and which have the potential to change sedentary lifestyles and associated health problems such as obesity. We identify that exergames have a number properties that could overcome the barriers to physical activity that individuals with visual impairments face. However, ex-ergames rely upon being able to perceive visual cues that indicate to the player what input to provide. This paper presents VI Tennis, a modified version of a popular motion sensing exergame that explores the use of vibrotactile and audio cues. The effectiveness of providing multimodal (tactile/audio) versus unimodal (audio) cues was evaluated with a user study with 13 children who are blind. Children achieved moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity-the amount required to yield health benefits. No significant difference in active energy expenditure was found between both versions, though children scored significantly better with the tactile/audio version and also enjoyed playing this version more, which emphasizes the potential of tactile/audio feedback for engaging players for longer periods of time.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationFDG 2010 - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games
Pages147-154
Number of pages8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes
Event5th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2010 - Monterey, CA, United States
Duration: Jun 19 2010Jun 21 2010

Publication series

NameFDG 2010 - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games

Other

Other5th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2010
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityMonterey, CA
Period6/19/106/21/10

Keywords

  • Audio
  • Exergames
  • Health
  • Tactile
  • Visually impaired

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Software

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