Bath scientists raise the bar for VR exercise

The team used a range of sensors – which could be embedded in VR headsets and wearable devices such as smartwatches – to track physical changes during workouts. Stripping out the noise from the data, the Bath team was able to assess the emotional state of participants in the study, who were engaged in static VR bike races.

For each workout, the researchers were able to paint an accurate picture of a user’s emotional state, matching the game’s level of difficulty and the nature of the virtual exercise (VE) with the physiological changes experienced by the user. Recently presented at CHI 2024, it’s hoped the study could be used by VE game developers to encourage people to persist with exercise when they would otherwise have given up.

“When it comes to physical exercise in all forms, motivation and exercise adherence are huge problems,” said lead author Dr Dominic Potts, research associate, at Bath’s Department of Computer Science. “With exergaming, we can address this issue and maximise a person’s enjoyment and performance by adapting the challenge level to match a user’s abilities and mood.

“Exercise games that are completely adaptive will sense a person's emotions and give them more ‘rewards’ when they’re struggling and more obstacles when they’re ready for a new challenge.”

According to study co-author Dr Christof Lutteroth, more personalised VE will be a key component of the technology’s success. As exergames become more emotionally intelligent, their ability to engage users will increase, boosting enjoyment and encouraging people to exercise longer.

“We fully expect VR physical activity to explode in popularity in the years ahead,” said Dr Lutteroth, who leads exergamer research at Bath’s REVEAL research centre.

“School children are already using them as part of their exercise programmes and they are also being used in rehab and sports science – so it’s important to focus on making technology that’s emotionally intelligent and adaptive to differences between users.”