Schoolchildren’s user experiences on a physical exercise game utilizing lighting and audio

• A unique exercise game based on lighting, narrative and audio for schoolchildren.
• Provides strong motivation for children to exercise in physical education classes.
• The results show that the game is extremely fun and inspiring even in long-term use.

Motivated by the troubling news on decreased exercise amount and increased obesity among children and adolescents, we investigated the possibilities of interactive lighting technology in encouraging children to participate in physical exercise in schools. We have created a story-driven physical exercise game based on light and sound utilizing a reasonably priced technological setup. The game has been evaluated with several groups of schoolchildren during physical education classes. The results show that a physical exercise game enhanced with lighting and audio keeps schoolchildren motivated both mentally and physically even after several playtimes. In subjective evaluations, participants still found the story of the game interesting after three playtimes, and were eager to exercise this way again.