Bachelor's Thesis

Resistance Training in VR: The influence of size distortion of equally heavy dumbbells on the player's workout experience

Author:

Annika Hemsing

Processing Period:

11.04.2022 - 04.07.2022

Abstract

Exergames can have an positive impact on the players health, health benefits include rehabilitation, preventing or reducing obesity and the emotional wellbeing of the player. Obesity and lack of movement has become a global problem and has serious consequences for the affected people. Exergames are a possibility to enhance one´s movement and thus fight or prevent those negative consequences. Studies consistently prove resistance training to be very beneficial for overall health, rehabilitation and even cognitive abilities. Thus incorporating resistance into an Exergame might be very beneficial for the efficiency of the workout. Therefore a resistance based workout in VR will be designed using dumbbells to enhance exertion. To examine the role of the appearance of the dumbbells on one´s workout they will be varied in size, one group will be shown a larger representation of the dumbbells while the other group will be presented with the real size, to do that the virtual hands of the player are used as a size ratio. The main research question is: Does a size distortion of equally heavy dumbbells have an influence on the player's workout experience? To evaluate this, the variables motivation, presence, perceived as well as actual exertion, using a heart rate monitor, will be investigated. A Within-Design will be used in order to receive objective insights into the players´ experiences.