Twelve Ways to Reach for a Star: Player Movement Strategies in a Whole-Body Exergame

This paper describes findings from a laboratorybased assessment of a balance-training exergame developed by the authors. The exergame was designed to elicit specific body movements during gameplay involving weight-shift (transfer of body weight from one foot to the other), which is considered beneficial for training balance. The body movements observed during gameplay were analyzed using a modified Labanotation. The study was conducted with twelve ablebodied
adults. All users played the exergame successfully, but contrary to our expectations, only 23% of the observed player movements corresponded to the specific body movements the exergame intended to elicit. Despite the low number of intended movements, 49% of the observed movements involved weight-shift. The exergame was therefore appropriate for balance training, although users moved differently than what we had designed for. Regarding balance-training exergames, our findings suggest that designers need worry less about “puppeteering” able-bodied players with a strict choreography to elicit specific body movements. Instead we recommend that designers embrace a less rigid design approach, where the goal is to elicit desired movement characteristics (e.g., weight-shift) through a more open and playful behavior.