Effects of Different Opponent Types on Motivation and Exercise Intensity in a Competitive Arm Exercise Game

Abstract

Objective: Competitive exercise games are popular in areas like rehabilitation and weight loss due to their positive effects on motivation. However, it is unclear whether a human opponent is necessary, as the same benefits may be achievable with a ''human-like'' computer-controlled opponent or a human who talks to the player without playing the game. Our objective was to compare four opponent types in a competitive exercise game: a simple computer opponent, ''human-like'' computer opponent, human opponent, and a simple computer opponent accompanied by a player-selected human who chats with the player. Materials and Methods: Sixteen participants (3 women, 24.4 -7.7 years old) played a competitive arm exercise game in the above four conditions. Exercise intensity was measured with inertial sensors, and four motivation scales were measured with the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. After playing, participants answered several questions regarding their preferences. Results: The human opponent was the favorite for 14 of 16 participants and resulted in the highest interest/ enjoyment and exercise intensity. All participants preferred the human opponent over the computer opponent accompanied by a human companion. Finally, 12 of 16 participants preferred the ''human-like'' computer opponent over the simple one. Conclusion: Our results have two implications for competitive exercise games. First, they indicate that developing computer-controlled opponents with more human-like behavior is worthwhile, but that the best results are achieved with human opponents. Second, social interaction without in-game interaction does not provide an enjoyable, intense experience. However, our results should be verified with different target populations for exercise games.

Physiological Reactions and Performance Parameters in Single-Player and Competitive Arm Rehabilitation Game: A Pilot Study

“…Therefore, data suggest that in the competitive mode participants think they experience a higher stress level than is reflected in their physiological response, which we could say is a objective measure of the actual stress response. A similar result has been observed in the results obtained from the IMI questionnaire in a more current study [31].…”

“…However, we observe that in high difficulty mode the maximum speed reaches significantly higher values than in the case of competitive mode. The increased in intensity level due to competition have already been widely demonstrated [4,32], also in related fields [31], so this finding was expected.…”

“…This subjective questionnaire measures four aspects of engagement: enjoyment/interest, effort/importance, perceived competence and pressure/tension. While there are many versions of the IMI [30], we have decided to use a reduce version that has already been used in previous similar studies [31,6,4].…”

Differences in Physiological Reactions Due to a Competitive Rehabilitation Game Modality

“…This subjective questionnaire measures four aspects of engagement: enjoyment/interest, effort/importance, perceived competence, and pressure/tension. While there are many versions of the IMI [ 29 ], we decided to use a reduced version that has already been employed in other studies [ 10 , 14 , 30 ].…”

Tele-Rehabilitation Versus Local Rehabilitation Therapies Assisted by Robotic Devices: A Pilot Study with Patients

“…This subjective questionnaire measures four aspects of engagement: enjoyment/interest, effort/importance, perceived competence, and pressure/strain. We chose to use a shortened version of the IMI used in other studies [21][22][23], although there are different versions [24].…”