research-article

Design Strategies for Balancing Exertion Games: A Study of Three Approaches

Authors:

Mads Møller Jensen,

Kaj GrønbækAuthors Info & Claims

DIS '16: Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems

Pages 936 - 946

https://doi.org/10.1145/2901790.2901843

Published: 04 June 2016 Publication History

Abstract

In sports, if players' physical and technical abilities are mismatched, the competition is often uninteresting for them. With the emergence of exertion games, this could be changing. Player balancing, known from video games, allows players with different skill levels to compete, however, it is unclear how balancing mechanisms should be applied in exertion games, where physical and digital elements are fused. In this paper, we present an exertion game and three approaches for balancing it; a physical, an explicit-digital and an implicit-digital balancing approach. A user study that compares these three approaches is used to investigate the qualities and challenges within each approach and explore how the player experience is affected by them. Based on these findings, we suggest four design strategies for balancing exertion games, so that players will stay engaged in the game and contain the feeling of a fair competition, even if they have mismatched skills.

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Cited By

Smith IScheme EBateman S(2024)Designing a Technique-Oriented Sport Training Game for Motivating a Change in Running TechniqueProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36770648:CHI PLAY(1-29)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677064
Gonçalves DBarros DPais PGuerreiro JGuerreiro TRodrigues A(2024)The Trick is to Stay Behind?: Defining and Exploring the Design Space of Player Balancing MechanicsProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642441(1-16)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642441
Boot MKahnt LPostma DUlak MGeurs KHavinga P(2024)Are We in Flow? Measuring and Supporting Simultaneous Flow in Duos of Elderly Cyclists2024 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops and other Affiliated Events (PerCom Workshops)10.1109/PerComWorkshops59983.2024.10503119(255-260)Online publication date: 11-Mar-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/PerComWorkshops59983.2024.10503119
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Index Terms

Design Strategies for Balancing Exertion Games: A Study of Three Approaches
1. Human-centered computing

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cover image ACM Conferences

DIS '16: Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems

June 2016

1374 pages

ISBN:9781450340311

DOI:10.1145/2901790

General Chair:
Marcus Foth
Queensland University of Technology
,
Program Chairs:
Wendy Ju
Stanford University
,
Ronald Schroeter
Queensland University of Technology
,
Stephen Viller
University of Queensland

Copyright © 2016 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 04 June 2016

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DIS '16 Paper Acceptance Rate 107 of 418 submissions, 26%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,158 of 4,684 submissions, 25%

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Cited By

Smith IScheme EBateman S(2024)Designing a Technique-Oriented Sport Training Game for Motivating a Change in Running TechniqueProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36770648:CHI PLAY(1-29)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677064
Gonçalves DBarros DPais PGuerreiro JGuerreiro TRodrigues A(2024)The Trick is to Stay Behind?: Defining and Exploring the Design Space of Player Balancing MechanicsProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642441(1-16)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642441
Boot MKahnt LPostma DUlak MGeurs KHavinga P(2024)Are We in Flow? Measuring and Supporting Simultaneous Flow in Duos of Elderly Cyclists2024 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops and other Affiliated Events (PerCom Workshops)10.1109/PerComWorkshops59983.2024.10503119(255-260)Online publication date: 11-Mar-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/PerComWorkshops59983.2024.10503119
Postma DKarahanoğlu Avan Delden RReidsma D(2023)The Cost of Reward: A Critical Reflection on the `What', `How', and `Why' of Gamification for Motivation in SportsCompanion Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play10.1145/3573382.3616102(222-224)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3573382.3616102
Postma Dvan Delden Rvan Hilvoorde I(2022)“Dear IOC”: Considerations for the Governance, Valuation, and Evaluation of Trends and Developments in eSportsFrontiers in Sports and Active Living10.3389/fspor.2022.8996134Online publication date: 22-Jun-2022
https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.899613
Postma Dten Brinke Svan Delden RReidsma D(2022)Coaxing: An Empirical Exploration of a Novel Way to Nudge Athletic Performance in SportsPersuasive Technology10.1007/978-3-030-98438-0_14(174-189)Online publication date: 21-Mar-2022
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98438-0_14
Martin-Niedecken ASchwarz TSchättin A(2021)Comparing the Impact of Heart Rate-Based In-Game Adaptations in an Exergame-Based Functional High-Intensity Interval Training on Training Intensity and Experience in Healthy Young AdultsFrontiers in Psychology10.3389/fpsyg.2021.57287712Online publication date: 21-Jun-2021
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Cimolino GAskari SGraham T(2021)The Role of Partial Automation in Increasing the Accessibility of Digital GamesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34746935:CHI PLAY(1-30)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3474693
Goll Rossau ISkammelsen RCzapla JHougaard BKnoche HJochumsen M(2021)How can we help? Towards a design framework for performance-accommodation mechanisms for users struggling with inputExtended Abstracts of the 2021 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play10.1145/3450337.3483497(10-16)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2021
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Ren XAn PBekker TChen YKhot Rten Bhömer MWang YSpina GWakkary RAndersen KOdom WDesjardins APetersen M(2020)Weaving Healthy Behaviors into New Technology RoutinesCompanion Publication of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3393914.3395911(393-396)Online publication date: 6-Jul-2020
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