Title:	DESIGNING MOBILE MULTIPLAYER EXERGAMES FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Author(s):	Kristian Kiili, Arttu Perttula, Pauliina Tuomi, Marko Suominen, Antero Lindstedt
ISBN:	978-972-8924-99-7
Editors:	Inmaculada Arnedillo Sánchez and Pedro Isaías
Year:	2010
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Exergame, mobile phone, physical education, game, multiplayer, flow experience
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	141
Last Page:	148
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	Obesity and the lack of exercise are well known problems among the young people nowadays. One solution to the problem lies in games that activate and motivate young people to move under the guise of having fun and playing. Exergames involve physical activity as a means of interacting with the game and the most important outcome for exergaming systems is to achieve health benefits. In this paper we propose a design framework for exergames. Based on the design framework two mobile multiplayer exergames were developed and empirically evaluated. Junior high school students tested the games as a part of their normal school activities and filled in a related questionnaire. The aim of the study was to explore the usefulness of the developed framework and to evaluate the developed exergame prototypes. In particularly, the study focuses on studying the meaning of multiplayer aspect and the possibilities to utilize mobile phones as game controllers. The evaluation results clearly indicated that most of the students were very motivated and engaged in the tested games. In particular, multiplayer context and teamwork were liked a lot. It seems that exergames could be used to increase students’ physical activities. This research is also important because it takes the idea of exergaming further by introducing mobile phones as game controllers in a multiplayer mode, which could widen the field of exergaming tremendously and facilitate the diffusion of exergames into schools’ daily life.
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