A serious game to practice stretches and exercises for a correct and healthy posture

Abstract

This paper presents a serious game application to help users move toward a better and healthier body position, by learning proper postures and performing stretches in real-time. Via gesture interaction, a visual feedback and per body segment is displayed in the game’s interface, guiding users to correct body’s alignment during the execution of stretches, and making them more successful in finalizing the physical activity. In the game, a pre-recorded reference posture can automatically self-adjust to the size of the body segments captured from different users. The application also offers an implementation independent of the gestural input device, providing the device has a recognition process based on joints. Usability testing was conducted and the results on average show that users not only perceived the importance and usefulness of the application, but also expressed a positive experience with regard to practicing the exercises, rating the application from very good to good in terms of relevance, ease of use, effectiveness, and overall satisfaction.