According to a recent study, the mixed reality gaming ecosystem can promote sustainable physical activity among young people.
- “The Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem” is a “precision physical activity intervention for children that integrates mixed reality technology to connect people and devices.”
- After the mixed reality approach, the children did more sport.
- Social support, that is, encouragement from parents, is essential to maintain progress in physical activity.
All children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 should have moderate to vigorous activity for one hour per day. This is what the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends. However, most young people do not follow the recommendations. And as parents know, it’s not easy to get them to exercise by simply telling them to do it. “Everyone needs some level of support and social connections to achieve this change. It turns out we can use technology to help parents and children stay connected and help them achieve this common family goal of ensuring that children remain active and healthy”, said S.a Joo (Grace) Ahnprofessor at the University of Georgia (United States).
Physical activity: setting your own goals with the help of a virtual dog and its parents
Indeed, in a new study, the researcher and his team tested the “Virtual Fitness Buddy ecosystem”. This is a “precision physical activity intervention for children that integrates mixed reality technology to connect people and devices.” To determine its effects, the authors recruited 303 children and their parents enrolled in after-school programs at the YMCA in metro Atlanta.
For six months, half of them used a computer program to set exercise goals using a computer, without virtual help or parents, while the others were allowed a mixed reality approach. In detail, the digital fitness program used a virtual dog to help children understand how to set their own physical activity goals and encourage them to achieve them. If they achieved their goal, they could play with the dog. During the intervention, connected watches tracked each child’s physical activity. Information about their progress collected by caregivers was shared with their parents so that children could receive support.
An increase in physical activity in children thanks to the mixed reality approach
Young volunteers “had physical activity data of more than 8 hours for at least one day of each of the three time intervals of the intervention”can we read in the results published in the journal npj Digital Medicine. Children participating in the mixed reality approach saw a significant increase in their physical activity. More precisely, “the conversion of sedentary time was mainly into light-intensity physical activity and was greater in children with low moderate-to-vigorous physical activity than in children with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of more than 45 minutes “. As they achieved their goals, the dog became healthier, allowing the youngsters to play with him longer and teach him more complex tricks.
According to researchers, for behavioral changes to last, children need someone to encourage them. “Caregivers also played an important role. After receiving messages about their child’s progress in real time, parents could then send their own words of encouragement. This system provided both additional social support and ‘child. (…). Human beings are in a way the anchor points of the system, without the human being in the loop of the devices, the latter lose their meaning. concluded Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn.
