Technology for exergames: Arduino-based reactive floor

Abstract

Studies conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that most adolescents do not perform enough physical activity, endangering their current and future health; also, elder persons gain great benefit from moderate physical activity adapted to their shape. A novel way to promote and motivate people to engage in physical activity is exergames. Exergames are games relying on technology or video games of in which the player has to perform different types of movements or exercise to interact with the game. To do this, devices capable of capturing and monitoring this movement to develop their gaming experience or send that information to a computer or console to running the part of the game to interact with are needed. In this context, an interactive floor that allows to detect the player’s position in real time has been designed. This can be linked to the development of exergames of serious exergames to obtain new skills while doing physical exercise on this intelligent floor.