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Multidisciplinary Iterative Design of Exergames (MIDE): A Framework for Supporting the Design, Development, and Evaluation of Exergames for Health

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HCI in Games (HCII 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12211))

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Abstract

Exercise video games (exergames) are increasingly being employed as a complementary intervention to promote physical activity engagement in response to the need for creating sustainable strategies for supporting health. While exergames have shown that they can have comparable effects to conventional human-guided training programs in certain situations, its adoption in healthcare applications are still limited. This is in part because of a disconnection between the technology/content producers, healthcare providers, and end-users. Many design frameworks have been proposed to guide the process of creating games for health, however, what is missing is an integrated and multifaceted approach that includes the preliminary research and evaluation stages that are needed to create plausible solutions for exergames. Furthermore, relevant stakeholders are often not included throughout the entire process, neglecting the importance of transdisciplinary collaborations when creating exergames for health. This paper presents the Multidisciplinary Iterative Design of Exergames (MIDE) framework as a comprehensive, integrative, and specific framework for exergame design, development, and evaluation following different research methods, techniques and tools. The MIDE framework is intended to support researchers, healthcare professionals, and industrial experts in identifying the stages, processes, techniques, and key roles needed to create novel exergames for exercise promotion. As older adults are a key user group, applicability of the framework is illustrated using considerations for older adults and immersive experiences (e.g., virtual reality). A specific use case is presented at the end of the paper to illustrate the use of the MIDE framework in the context of a project of using virtual reality exergames for promoting exercise in people living with dementia.

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Acknowledgement

We thank our collaborator Prof. Michael Barnett-Cowan for his input on the framework. We acknowledge the support from our industry partners, Schlegel Villages and VR Vision, in developing the HMD-VR exergames for older adults with MCI/dementia. This research was supported in part by NSERC – CREATE, Training in Global Biomedical Technology Research and Innovation at the University of Waterloo. [CREATE Funding 401207296].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Yirou Li, John Muñoz, Shi Cao & Jennifer Boger

  2. Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Samira Mehrabi & Laura Middleton

  3. Research Institute for Aging, Waterloo, ON, N2J 0E2, Canada

    Laura Middleton & Jennifer Boger

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  1. Yirou Li
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  3. Samira Mehrabi
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  4. Laura Middleton
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  5. Shi Cao
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  6. Jennifer Boger
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Correspondence to Yirou Li .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Xiaowen Fang

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Li, Y., Muñoz, J., Mehrabi, S., Middleton, L., Cao, S., Boger, J. (2020). Multidisciplinary Iterative Design of Exergames (MIDE): A Framework for Supporting the Design, Development, and Evaluation of Exergames for Health. In: Fang, X. (eds) HCI in Games. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12211. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50164-8_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50164-8_9

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