Jana Funke, member of the research group human-computer interaction, discusses her PhD thesis project.
Abstract:
Physical activity is well-known to influence physical and mental health positively. Nevertheless, obesity, sedentary behavior, and general lack of movement are rising globally. While many reasons for the lack of physical activity can be assumed, we know that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation plays a significant role in going into action.
Besides motivation, hurdles such as time, money, or uncomfortable feelings about the body can stop people from doing enough physical exercise. As a counteract of these hurdles, virtual home fitness is on the rise. Cheap, right away accessible, and a wide selection for individual preferences make it attractive to work out towards videos or apps. While this approach reduces many hurdles mentioned (time, money, accessibility, etc.), new problems arise, such as lack of feedback on correct exercise execution, possible motivating atmosphere, or social factors.
This dissertation addresses the following problems and presents possible solutions. Starting with general exercise motivation and extending to virtual home exercise using extended reality (XR).
Interaction techniques requiring subtle body movement or gamification can enhance physical activity in daily time-bridging tasks. These gentle body movements are healthy. However, gentle body movements are no substitute for a full-body workout where the heart rate rises and muscles are correctly activated and stretched. Therefore, I propose an augmented or virtual reality exercise guidance setup with motion tracking.
I focus mainly on three key challenges for supporting exercise movement in XR: exercise guidance, the effects of social or atmospheric factors, and exercise feedback.
In exercise guidance, user and avatar movement can be used to understand and guide stationary full-body movement in-situ as comfortably as possible. Furthermore, I investigate how to improve the workout atmosphere and study visual surroundings and social situations that can improve the workout atmosphere. Lastly, I present a first approach for ex-situ or after- workout feedback that can be used to understand the muscle activity during the workout.
We are forward to your participation!
