ExerSync: facilitating interpersonal synchrony in social exergames

Social exergames provide immersive experiences of social interaction via online multiplayer games, ranging from simple group exercises (e.g., virtual cycling/rowing) to more structured multiplayer games (e.g., cooperative boat racing). In exergame design, interpersonal synchrony plays an important role as it enhances social rapport and pro-social behavior. In this paper, we build ExerSync platform that supports various assistive mechanisms for facilitating interpersonal synchrony even with heterogeneous exercise modalities. We consider a rhythm of body movements in repetitive aerobic exercises and explore the design space of incorporating rhythm into exergames. We build a prototype system and comparatively evaluate the effectiveness of various assistive mechanisms. The experiment results show that rhythm significantly lowers the perceived workloads and provides better competence and engagement, but the accuracy of interpersonal synchrony is not dependent on the use of rhythm.

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