The following Blogpost is by our Spanish Partner Francisco Ibanez from Brainstorm, Valencia. The Exerkit development was developed as innovative Spanish contribution to our SINN.international goal of using gamification to instill joy of movement. We are very happy with this great progress…
Exerkit is a fun Exergame based on gym machines, in which mobility and exercise are stimulated through the use of immersive experiences. This initial design has focused on a kayak ergometer, where the activity takes place at the sea. Users can choose to visit different places on a virtual island, beaches, rocks, caves… or accept challenges and measure their performance in different tests, so that they can analyze information such as cadence, length of the stroke, the movement of the blade in the water, or the gesture of the paddler.
The most positive point of the finding is that the user, focused on the playful experience, forgets how much exercise he or she is doing and therefore ends up doing the experience more frequently and with more intensity.
In order to be able to use this system, it is necessary to make use of Virtual Reality that includes a display device (HMD) and a set of removable and easy-to-install sensors that transform any gym equipment into the exercise and interaction element of an exergame.
In conclusion, not only have expectations been exceeded, but given the results, the intention is to develop new versions for other machines and exercises. Brainstorm is already designing versions for other water sports like rowing, canoe, paddle surf, etc. For other conventional fitness machines, the objective is to develop more creatively designed scenarios more related to gamification than to simulated realities.
