A model for mobile exergame development to promote anti-sedentary behaviour

Abstract

The term “exergame” is the combination word of exercise and videogames. Exergaming is playing exergames or any other video games to promote physical activity. Contemporary lifestyle has become increasingly sedentary: little physical (sports, exercises) and much sedentary (TV, computers) activity. The nature of sedentary activity is self-reinforcing, such that increasing physical and decreasing sedentary activity is difficult. As the growth of smartphones devices increased over the years, it becomes easier for an individual to play the exergame application in their mobile device anytime, anywhere. This research study mainly aims to promote anti-sedentary behaviour by using mobile exergame application. Therefore, a model has been proposed based on literature analysis on behaviour change models and survey experiment findings. The overall finding from the survey experiment suggest that by practising mobile exergame, an individual can expect a productive behaviour change which will motivate the user for a longer period of time. It also helps to identify the specific requirements of the prototype as well as contributes to the model development for this study. To evaluate the proposed model, a mobile exergame prototype called “FitUP” was developed as a proof of concept. Rapid Application Development (RAD) model was used as a guideline for the prototype development. In addition, a final survey was also conducted towards the end of this research study to gather the usability satisfaction data on the “FitUP” prototype which was developed for this research study.