Frank Chen*, Stanford University Computer Science Dept., Stanford, United States Eric Hekler, Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford, United States Abby King, Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford, United States Track: Research Presentation Topic: Human-Computer Interface (HCI) Design Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: LKSC Conference Center Stanford Room: Lower Lobby Date: 2011-09-17 12:30 PM – 01:30 PM Last modified: 2011-08-12

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Background
Scientists such as Langer and colleagues demonstrated how reframing the perception of everyday physical activities by hotel maids as exercise has healthful benefits (e.g., improved body fat, blood pressure, BMI, etc) without reported behavior change. The mechanisms for this benefit are not well understood. A likely explanation is that reframing a behavior as exercise promotes increased subconscious exertion in the behavior, thus resulting in improved health benefits. There has been much interest in the use of games to promote health. For example, the Wii Fit and Xbox Kinect both require physical activity from participants to play the games. Dance Central for Kinect promotes physical activity in a context of completing dance moves based on on-screen instructions. This game is designed as a game but within the game, there is the “work-out” mode. When workout mode is turned on, a calorie counter and total amount of time exercising is added to the game, thus giving the frame that the actions being engaged in are “exercise.” This manipulation allows for a relatively clean experimental manipulation for testing the mechanisms outlined above. A potentially interesting side-effect of framing the activity as “exercise,” however, might be reduced motivation for sustained engagement in the dance game if it is perceived as “exercise” as opposed to play. The proposed study will test: a) if framing a dance program as “exercise” promotes increased energy expenditure relative to a dance program being framed as a game; and b) if framing a dance program as a game promotes longer engagement in the program relative to an exercise frame.
Methods
Participants will be asked to complete a baseline questionnaire asking them about potential factors that may impact engagement in physical activity (e.g., current exercise and gaming habits). All participants will be asked to use the Dance Central game. We will then randomize participants into two conditions: 1. Tell participants they are “playing a dance game meant to be fun and engaging.” We will place the game in Perform Mode, which gives feedback on performance and score based on performance. 2. Tell participants they are “using a dance program focused on dancing for exercise”. We will place the game in Workout Mode, which gives feedback on performance, score, workout time and number of calories burned. We will observe the amount of energy expenditure and time spent in the game; after each session, we will ask participants to rate perceived energy expenditure and enjoyment. The amount of time spent in the game will serve as an additional measure reflecting motivation for this activity frame. We will instrument participants with a Zephyr Bio-Harness to objectively monitor exertion level.
Results
Research in Progress. Results from this study should help elucidate the best mechanisms for harnessing design and framing messages to promote physical activity in games.
Conclusions
Understanding the link between the framing of an action and its impact on exertion and behavioral engagement has important implications for promoting physical activity. Based on this link, we plan to explore the power of social media to engage competition, cooperation, and reward in motivating physical activity gaming. Still, social media may have unintended negative consequences on motivation due to the person’s social network.