Dance Games and Other Exergames:
What the Research Says
University of California, Santa Barbara
http://www.comm.ucsb.edu/lieberman_flash.htm
Video game playing used to be a sedentary pastime, but now a growing
number of games are compelling us to get up and move. These games –
sometimes called “exergames” or “exertainment” – involve the player
in dance, aerobics, kick-boxing, sports moves, martial arts, virtual
window washing, or other forms of physical activity and exertion as
the way to interact within the game.
Exergaming is popular in the US and research is finding that it can
improve players’ stress levels, weight management, fitness, and
health. Some play exergames to get a good workout, and others play
mainly for entertainment and social interaction but they enjoy the
health benefits as an added bonus. There are players who were not
very active in the past and have found that playing exergames is a
manageable and acceptable way to get regular exercise. Following are
some key research findings about uses and effects of exergames.
Exergames are fun and engaging
The most researched exergames are dance video games, such as Dance
Dance Revolution (DDR), by Konami, and In the Groove, by RedOctane,
which have sold millions of console copies in the US and are also
popular in video game arcades. Dance video game players span a wide
demographic range, across age, gender, weight level, and fitness
level. The interface to these games is a dance pad on the floor, so
that lower body movement and coordinated footwork are the skills
needed to win the game. A few games also incorporate upper body
movements, where players must touch the dance pad with their hands
as well as with their feet. In other games that require only
footwork, players sometimes decide to use their hands on the dance
pad when they want to get creative or change the level of challenge.
DDR and In the Groove can both be played in arcades, on video game
consoles, and on home computers with single player and two-player
options, and there are online multiplayer versions. Online forums,
chat rooms, and fan web sites, and online and face-to-face
tournaments, provide venues where players can meet, play together,
compete, give dance performances, and show off their knowledge and
skills. Both dance game series offer a workout mode (or fitness
mode) that shows players how many calories they have burned based on
their weight, the time spent playing, and the exertion required for
each song.
A study of young adults who play DDR, ages 18 to 27, found that they
played for the following reasons, in descending order of importance
to them, on average: to have fun, play with other people, work out,
dance, meet other people who play DDR, enjoy the challenge of the
game, and be admired by others for their skill (Lieberman, in
preparation). Study participants who said they played DDR to stay
fit reported the highest enjoyment of the game, compared to other
players, and they developed more friendships with other DDR players.
Study participants who played only the arcade version of DDR
reported playing 4 hours per week, on average, and those who played
both the console and arcade versions of DDR said they played an
average of 7.4 hours per week (5.6 hours with the console version
and 1.8 hours with the arcade version). Arcade players reported
spending $22.00 per week, on average. None of the participants said
they played the console version exclusively. They either played the
arcade version exclusively or they played both the console and
arcade versions.
Some lively communities have formed around dance video games,
supported by message boards and fan web sites (Vicchrilli, 2005).
For example, the DDR fan site DDR Freak offers online forums
(http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/) and chat. Konami’s message boards
(http://www.konami.com/main/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi) and RedOctane’s
message boards (http://www.inthegroove.com/page/Community) are also
very active. High schools are forming DDR clubs and college students
are holding DDR meet-ups and tournaments.
Exergame formats that do not use a dance pad are gaining popularity,
most notably the EyeToy, which has a workout game called EyeToy:
Kinetic. EyeToy games use a camera pointed at the player, which
inserts the player’s image into the screen and into a virtual game
environment. The interface is the player’s physical movement, which
is sensed by the game via the camera. A full-vision lens captures
the player’s image from head to toe, so that all body movements are
detected. EyeToy: Kinetic offers a variety of workouts, ranging from
combat, in which players kick and punch images of falling objects;
to active cardio exercises, gym workouts, and karate moves; to
toning exercises, yoga, and tai-chi. A virtual trainer moves the
player through a 12-week fitness program that becomes increasingly
challenging over time, and the player’s progress can be saved and
reviewed.
Yourself!Fitness is a console-based exercise program that uses a
social interface – a virtual trainer named Maya – to guide the user
in daily workouts, and it keeps a record of the user’s progress. The
user can customize the workouts based on individual abilities and
interests, and the system adjusts the content and difficulty of each
workout depending on the mood and energy level reported by the user
each day. A few elements of video-game play have been used in
Yourself!Fitness, where the program sets goals for the user and then
provides rewards. For example, after reaching a specific fitness
goal the player is allowed to add new background music as a reward.
However, this program is not a game, primarily; it is a fitness
tool.
Aerobic workout and weight loss effects
A study with 22 overweight and normal weight children ages 11-17
found that DDR increases players’ heart rates so that they obtain an
aerobic workout and gain cardio-physiological benefits, even at the
easiest levels of the game (Unnithan et al., 2005). The study used a
console version of DDR and found that all children in the study
raised their heart rate within the range for developing and
maintaining cardio-respiratory fitness. The overweight children
expended more energy to play than did normal weight children, but
all raised their heart rate enough to reach an effective aerobic
workout level. Another study looked at the exercise intensity of
playing DDR at a medium level of difficulty and found that it met
official standards for developing and maintaining cardio-respiratory
fitness in an active and aerobically fit population (Tan et al.
2002). A third study, with 35 adolescents in Pennsylvania, found
that DDR raised participants’ heart rates to double their resting
level during a 45-minute period, on average, and this is evidence
that playing DDR playing can achieve and sustain an aerobic exercise
effect throughout a workout period (Hindery, 2005).
The benefits of physical activity are well documented, and include
cardio-vascular health, better weight management, reduction of
anxiety and stress, improved sensory-motor learning, and improved
cognitive alertness and performance (Shasek, 2005).
There is growing evidence that frequent exergame use helps people
stay fit and manage their weight. For the most part, the evidence is
anecdotal, but clinical studies are underway across the US to
identify fitness and weight management benefits over time (see
Barker, 2005; Konami press release, 2006) and some studies have
reported results (see studies, discussed in the next section below).
Many fan web sites provide personal testimonials from players who
have lost weight. For example, see Barker, 2005, Hindery, 2005;
Kresge, 2005, and testimonials on http://www.getupmove.com/, where
people say they have lost weight, even as much as 50 to 100 pounds,
with the help of exergames. Some overweight youngsters and adults
claim that they were not able to exercise regularly or sustain their
motivation to exercise until they started using exergames.
Implementation in healthcare, schools, workplaces, and fitness clubs
A few health plans are making exergames available to their members
in clinical settings, and feasibility studies have been done with
various target groups. For example, EyeToy games were tested with
healthy young adults, healthy older adults, and adult stroke
patients (Rand et al., 2004). All three groups reported ease of use
and enjoyment of the games, and expressed interest in playing again
in the future. The stroke patients were frustrated when they were
unable to interact with the games’ images with their weaker hand or
when they could not reach out far enough to interact with the entire
screen and needed help from a physical therapist; however they still
expressed interest in playing again and they saw that the games
could make a positive contribution to their therapy. The EyeToy was
fun and beneficial for all participants in the study except for the
most acute stroke patients who were too severely disabled to play.
The authors hope that simplified versions of EyeToy and other
virtual environment exergames will be produced especially for low
functioning patients to use in physical therapy.
The West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency funded research
to determine whether use of DDR will reduce healthcare insurance
costs for its 215,000 members. Other funders of the research include
the West Virginia Department of Education, Konami Digital
Entertainment, Mountaineer Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Accordia
Insurance Company. One of the studies they funded investigated the
health and fitness outcomes of young people who played DDR at home
for six months. Another study identified the impacts of the game on
students in 20 West Virginia schools that used DDR in physical
education and health classes, and found that some of the youngsters
lost five to ten pounds after playing the game every day during the
first few weeks (Barker, 2005; Konami press release, 2006). A third
study with 35 overweight children ages 7 to 12 found that playing
DDR at least five times a week led to the children feeling more
coordinated, less winded, and less self-conscious. They developed
stronger self-esteem, on average, improved their aerobic fitness,
and reduced their chances for developing diseases associated with
obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease. Study participants’
parents reported that most of the children stopped gaining their
typical three or four pounds a month and, with increased
self-confidence, started exercising and playing sports regularly in
daily life (Brubaker, 2006). Based on the positive results of these
studies, the state of West Virginia now plans to use DDR in all of
its 765 public schools and is developing a school-based DDR
curriculum.
DDR and In the Groove are being used during physical education
classes, recess, lunchtimes, and after school in many other school
districts in the US, and students, teachers, and parents are very
pleased with the results (Barker, 2005; Hindery, 2005; Shasek,
2004). Teachers report that a single gaming unit in the classroom
can benefit the entire class, because students are happy to follow
the footwork on dance pads that are not connected to the console,
while they watch a student play the game.
A five-month study in an Oregon elementary school found that 120
third- and fourth-graders who played In The Groove improved in self
concepts, social success, and academic performance (Sashek, 2004).
At-risk students were selected to be mentors who taught their peers
how to play the game. Throughout the school day, time was scheduled
for groups of students to play the game together, with a mentor
available to help. This extra physical activity during the school
day led to improvements in self-image, classroom behavior, social
skills, leadership skills, and teamwork; reduced student absenteeism
by more than 50 percent; and improved students’ mile run times by an
average of about 14 percent. Students reported more enthusiasm for
sports, fitness, dance, and PE class than they did before the
program began. The study’s author points to the beneficial effects
of exercise on children’s school achievement, in areas such as
sensory awareness, eye-hand coordination, attention focus,
self-esteem, social integration of children with special needs,
language development, and reading skills, and cites studies
demonstrating these effects (such as Sallis et al., 1999; Tremblay
et al., 2000).
In the Groove is being used in a workplace fitness program called
Revive! The Workplace Break. It requires a video game DVD connected
to a dance pad and a TV set, and there is no need for staffing,
exercise equipment, or workout clothing. Employees can play In the
Groove and use an optional system of journaling, time-keeping,
wellness awareness, team competitions, and recognition of the
highest scorers. These tools are designed to build wellness
awareness among employees and to foster communication and
collaboration. A report from RedOctane, producer of In the Groove,
cites research on the benefits of employee fitness programs,
including improvements in self-esteem, stress reduction, energy
level, and wellness; reduced absenteeism; and increased
concentration, memory, creativity, and productivity at work (Shasek,
2005), and they expect to see similar outcomes when employees have
In the Groove available to them at work.
Several major health club chains are field testing, or are about to
install, DDR in workout rooms and aerobics classes, and hotel
chains, cruise lines, and airports have expressed interest in
installing DDR in their fitness centers and public waiting areas. In
aerobics classes the instructor dances on a pad to demonstrate the
legwork. DDR has been installed in the Kids Club area in a few of
the 24 Hour Fitness health clubs in the US.
Future directions
New exergames, using new styles of exertion interfaces, are in the
early stages of R&D or implementation. A few examples include a
gesture-based game called Qui Qui’s Giant Bounce (Höysniemi et al.,
2003), a virtual fitness center called Virku (Mokka et al., 2004), a
networked virtual sports game called Breakout for Two (Mueller &
Agamanolis, 2005), and other sports interfaces involving virtual
kick-boxing, hang gliding, water skiing, surfing, golf, and arm
wrestling; augmented table games of ping pong, foosball, and air
hockey; and bicycling interfaces, such as Cyclescore, Cateye
Interactive Bike, Bikeovision, and Kilowatt Neoracer.
Research is finding that exergames are highly appealing, motivating,
and fun, and they offer compelling game challenges, a chance to
perform athletically or expressively for others, and a way to meet
and interact with others in friendships and in communities. Dance
pad video games, extremely popular in homes and arcades, are the
most widely researched exergames so far and they are gaining
widespread acceptance in schools, the workplace, health clubs, and
other non-recreational settings because studies are showing that
they make a very positive contribution to players’ stress
management, weight management, fitness, and health.
References
Barker, A. (2005). Kids in study try to dance away weight.
Associated Press.
Brubaker, B. (2006). Teachers join the Dance Dance Revolution:
Educators begin training to use the exercise video game. The
Dominion Post, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Hindery, R. (2005). Japanese video game helps people stay fit and
lose weight. Associated Press Worldstream.
Höysniemi, J., Hämäläinen, P., and Turkki, L. (2003). Using peer
tutoring in evaluating the usability of a physically interactive
computer game with children. Interacting with Computers, 15(2),
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Konami press release about DDR in West Virginia Schools (2006). DDR
to Become Featured Program in All 765 West Virginia Public Schools.
http://www.konami.com/gs/newsarticle.php?id=726, accessed 4-7-06.
Konami press release about DDR in fitness clubs (2005). DDR To
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Kresge, N. (2005). Video games: The newest way to get kids moving
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