Heart Burn is a research paper and project that demonstrates heart-rate scaling on a exergame bike project by a Queen’s University and UVIC research group.
Problem: When two players are playing cycling games where the speed of the cycling is tied to the speed of the game vehicle or person (truck, car, bike, etc..), the player who is more fit will always have an advantage over the less-fit player.
Solution: Using logarithmic scaling of heart-rate response while playing, they were able to show two players of different fitness levels in a close competition using recumbent bikes hooked via the internet.
My Question: If the scaling is applied using their 3 levels: base performance of target heart-rate, scale logarithmically, add nimbleness factor…could it be possible for a HIGHLY trained cyclist to always dominate because her/his fitness level (VO2 Max) and mechanical efficiency will enable her/him to always win; especially given the results they reported of when players are of similar levels of fitness, the scaling was less effective.
Heart Burn from tstach on Vimeo.
Citation:
Exercise video games combine entertainment and physical movement in an effort to encourage people to be more physically active. Multiplayer exercise games take advantage of the motivating aspects of group activity by allowing people to exercise together. However, people of significantly different fitness levels can have a hard time playing together, as large differences in performance can be demotivating. To address this problem, we present heart rate scaling, a mechanism where players' in-game performance is based on their effort relative to their fitness level. Specifically, heart rate monitoring is used to scale performance relative to how closely a person adheres to his/her target heart rate zone. We demonstrate that heart rate scaling reduces the performance gap between people of different fitness levels, and that the scaling mechanism does not significantly affect engagement during gameplay.
For more information on other exergame bike projects and products, be sure to check the Bike link in this blog archive. The Brain Bike also just started shipping so check back for more details.
If you need more information on the research and partnerships being created in the ExerGame Lab, please contact Stephen Yang at exergamelab at gmail dot com.
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I don't think I'm qualified to answer your question so I have an alternative ...
ReplyDeleteProblem: When two players are playing cycling games where the speed of the cycling is tied to the speed of the game vehicle or person (truck, car, bike, etc..), the player who is more fit will always have an advantage over the less-fit player.
Solution: Use Gamercize. On screen performance is not linked to fitness level, so 2 players of radically different fitness levels can enjoy exergaming together. This means the player with less physically ability can still "win". A first for engaging unfit people in physical competition. Secondly, it means parents (or teachers!) can play on the same game as the kids, making exergaming a truly inclusive experience based on fun!
I knew you would be first to post. I have some other neat stuff to show you too. I am playing the Cars racing game and whenever someone passes me (Lightning MacQueen as a Big Wheeler) they slow down to let me catch up. Well, then I speed up and run them over. but that's beside the point. http://www.gamercize.net/ does rock!
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