Mixed Reality Gaming May Help with Children’s Health and Activity

It’s unusual for anyone in authority to sing the praises of gaming, but that is now happening as experts start to reassess the role that gaming – and mixed reality (MR) in particular – may have in both the education and overall health of children and young people.

A recent investigation and report by the University of Georgia has concluded that, in the absence of anything better, simulated exercise and sports, such as those found in many MR apps are actually beneficial.

Undeniably, a significant number of children do not engage in the daily amount of physical activity that is suggested for them, and the quantity of exercise that they do engage in is decreasing. That is a major concern to doctors who believe that today’s youngsters could grow to become physically weak, and future generations increasingly so if significant exercise plans aren’t undertaken. On the other hand, as the majority of parents and guardians are aware, it is not as simple as just urging children to engage in physical activity. Physical exercise is something that people have to want to do to get anything meaningful out of it.

Gaming for Fitness

It’s fair to say that virtual games have had a bad press over the last few years, and have been slated for being a huge factor in child health issues. However, you dress it up, sitting in front of a console yelling to headset with rising blood pressure in an online game of the latest Call of Duty mashup doesn’t sound even slightly healthy. However, there is a huge difference between those kinds of games and a couple of rounds of Beat Sabre, and that distinction is important.

The fact is that MR entertainment and sports Apps offer a whole new dimension to traditional gaming, and even the shoot-em-ups encourage a good degree of movement compared with the Xbox/PlayStation alternatives. The need for a player to actually become physical during MR games and experiences has turned the scientific community on its head when it comes to the value of gaming; once seen as being to the detriment of health and wellbeing, the new thinking is that it is far more beneficial – all thanks to MR.

Traditional gaming is often a sedentary experience, where the player could be essentially motionless for hours at a time, which is not only unacceptable from a weight loss perspective, but can also be damaging to limbs and joints. The situation hasn’t been improved by the development of ultra-comfortable gaming chairs that allow such behaviour, and lets a user remain motionless for a number of hours at a time.

MR gaming, on the other hand, generally requires the user to interact with the virtual environment in some way, and in that, they become much more active that found with normal gaming.

A Detailed Study

The report from which this information has been taken is much more than just fanciful thinking by so-called experts, and has been backed up by structured study by a specialist team of scientists. This investigation focused on the physical activity of over 300 children in the 6-year-old to 11-year-old category, which is seen as crucial as it sets the precedent for the child’s future activity.

The early to middle years of life are crucial for establishing healthy habits that last into adulthood. Since childhood physical activity has been associated with resistance against health issues later in life, such as obesity and related chronic illnesses, as well as early mortality, it is generally advised that children engage in enough amounts of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical exercise.  

Children between the ages of six and eleven offer a crucial window for interventions to encourage and maintain healthy activity habits and decrease sedentary behaviour since interventions are much less effective once childhood obesity is entrenched.

Because of the dominance of gaming amongst this age group, in many instances the ‘bug’ of playing games is quickly established and then becomes a major influence in the child’s life. This is a situation which isn’t going to change any time soon, and the researchers were keen to understand if different forms of gaming could offer a much better outcome in terms of physical activity in this age group.

To be able to effectively do this the team needed to establish a level playing field that would act as a ‘standard’ measure for the volunteers and enable real data. This was achieved by using a group of after-school students, divided into two distinct factions. Half of the 300 were allocated time with a mixed-reality kiosk to set and track their goals, while the other half used a simple computer-based application.

The study team created a virtual dog as part of the digital fitness program in order to assist youngsters in comprehending how to successfully establish objectives for their physical activity and to motivate them to achieve the goals they have set for themselves. The dog was accessed via the kiosk and represented a reward for doing a good job, and the exercise levels of each student were monitored using Fitbits. Users were allowed to play with the dog if they were successful in reaching their objective. Part of this positive feedback came from the virtual dog. As the kids reached their goals, the dog became healthier, allowing the children to play with it longer and teach it more complex tricks. 

Even though this was a relatively simple encouragement, the research team found that the children reacted well to it, and it positively impacted their activities. The researchers were interested in measuring the impact of a sense of agency and achievement on children’s fitness aspirations, thus this finding came as a pleasant surprise. The mixed reality kiosk allowed the students more agency in goal-setting than was previously possible. Rather than relying on a cookie-cutter approach to physical fitness, this method helped children establish more attainable objectives.

Gaming is Good – Honestly

From the very start of this research, it was apparent that the study group were becoming more active with the intervention of the virtual dog, and were spending more time being active. The upshot of this is that gaming, as it exists now, is actually a fairly healthy activity and – in the absence of full-blown field athletics, or a healthy interest in soccer – is probably the best that most kids can aim for today.

MR health apps are big news and are seen as big sellers in the Apple and Play stores. If you have a good idea for a fitness App, why not contact us and see how we can help you get it launched.