Problems of a sedentary lifestyle

Could Video Games be a Solution?

Yes.

Pokemon Go took the world by a storm when they blended AR-powered adventures with the outside world. You could see people of all ages exploring outside, as Pokemon GO successfully boosted not only physical activity levels, but also community building.

Despite video games conventionally seen as an at-home, low movement activity, there are elements of video games that can synergize well with promoting physical activity, as shown by Pokemon GO.

Gamification can be an effective strategy to drive motivation, especially when used in conjunction with achievement-seeking objectives.

I created a questionnaire, gathering insights about Physical Activity and Gaming.

INSIGHT 1

All respondents reported feeling good after a physical workout. However, the frequency of working out drastically varied.

INSIGHT 2

The primary barriers to physical activity were cited as proximity to a gym as well as fitting time into their busy schedules.

INSIGHT 3

Respondents played video games for a variety of reasons, but primarily to experience progress, exploration, and skill expression.

Solving a sedentary lifestyle through gaming

Through my research, I decided that I wanted to tackle this problem space, by using gaming as a foundation.
To guide my ideation process, I asked myself via a How Might We statement:
How might I encourage sedentary young adults to increase physical activity by designing an augmented-reality video game, through a gamified AI wearable?

Who am I designing for?

Looking at Other Games

I looked at three games which integrated physical activity: Pokemon GO, BeatSaber, and RingFit Adventure,  to examine qualities that I’m interested in incorporating into my own solution.

Strengths:

Encourages players to explore and walk Collection system Progression and ranked system Augmented-Reality gameplay

Weaknesses:

Having to use the phone to play In-game battles can feel mundane

Strengths:

Physically intensive Plentiful skill expression Immersive virtual-reality experience Leaderboards

Weaknesses:

Lack of an exploration element No character progression system

Strengths:

Diverse Exercises Story mode Scavenging capabilities

Weaknesses:

Singleplayer Lack of skill expression No Augmented Reality

Brainstorming a Game

Based on my research and competitive analysis, I wanted to focus on a game that blended exploration with action-packed gameplay. I sat down and began sketching ideas of what a game-oriented solution might look like.

Props at home were used as prototype for the motion-sensing gauntlet and the AR goggles.

Lo-Fi Wireframes

Based on my research and competitive analysis, I wanted to focus on a game that blended exploration with action-packed gameplay. I sat down and began sketching ideas of what a game-oriented solution might look like.

Gauntlet Screens

A lobby interface allows players to invite fellow players. Players find monsters on the GPS-powered minimap, locking onto them. Finally, players can also view their profile, inventory, skills, and hunt history.

AR Interface

With the AR goggles equipped, players can see enemies in their real environment, with accompanying interfaces such as HP appearing as well.

Feedback

I recieved feedback from my peers:

🟡I like how you added gamified elements and players vs enemies element providing motivation to the users.

🟡I found your sketches diverse and compelling. From them, it seems your proposal is for a Pokémon Go-like app that incorporates even more physical movement by requiring users to perform actions to level up in the game. I think this is a key feature that you should emphasize more in your writing.

🟡Is the physical activity mainly walking? Or are there a bunch of other moves they must do that will also increase their physical activity?

🟡Right now, the particular physical location of the enemy is not connected to anything in the space. I wonder if there’s a way to introduce enemies that are environment-specific

These comments verified my idea for a gamified exercising solution, and pointed out aspects that I still need to work on moving into high fidelity.

Introducing: Pixelhunt!

Title screen and lobby screen, where players can play solo or invite their friends to hunt together

A GPS- powered map shows different enemies, colored by their tier. The higher tier the enemy, the more challenging the battle will be.

Players can view their profile to look at their stats, adjust their equipment in their inventory, read about their learned and upcoming skills, as well as view their hunt history.

Gameplay Demo

Reflection

This project gave me an opportunity to tackle the impactful problem space of physical activity, and to ideate a solution through game design. I learned a lot about designing for multimedia interfaces, such as a custom touchscreen gauntlet and even augmented reality. Plus, I got to integrate my love and interest of video games, coming up with ways to address the problem at hand with my own flair.

In the future, it would be really cool if I could actually design a functioning game, that way I could test player feedback and improve my designs more centered around playtesting and feedback.