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Race By Hearts
Using Technology to Facilitate Enjoyable and Social Workouts
Tobias Sonne and Mads Møller Jensen
Department of Computer Science, Aarhus University, Denmark
{tsonne,mmjensen}@cs.au.dk
Abstract.
In this paper, we explore the qualities of sharing biometric data in
real-time between athletes, in order to increase two motivational factors for
gym-goers: Enjoyment and social interaction. We present a novel smartphone
application, called Race By Hearts, which enables competition based on heart
rate data sharing between users in real-time. Through an empirical study
conducted in the gym, we show that sharing biometric data in real-time can
strengthen social relations between participants, increase motivation, and
improve the enjoyment of the fitness activity. Nevertheless, we found that
introducing competition based on real-time sharing of biometric data can cause
exasperation and discouragement for some athletes. Based on our findings from
the study, we discuss how technology can facilitate and modify competition in
fitness exercises in general.
Keywords:
Exertion interfaces, interactive sport-training systems, biometric
feedback, heart rate, wearable computing.
1
Introduction
Convincing oneself to go to the gym can be a hard task. Often people join the gym as
a result of a sudden realization that the state of their physical condition was not in
alignment with their self-image [2]. However, in the U.S. 67 % of people with a gym
membership never use it [11], as they fail to make workouts part of their everyday life
due to motivation deficiency. According to Crossley [2], regular gym-goers have a
vocabulary of motives that continuously drives them to the gym, including enjoyment
and social interaction. This paper seeks to utilize these two motivational factors, as a
way to make regular indoor cycling classes more appealing, by enabling indoor
cyclists to share biometric data with other cyclists in real-time.
The emergence of smartphone devices and compatible heart rate belts has enabled
sports practitioners to measure and share biometric data via sharing networks, such as
Runkeeper or Endomondo. The effects of real-time broadcasting of biometric data to
social networks have shown to create a stronger tie between practitioners and their
friends on social networks as well as to motivate practitioners during sports activities
[3]. However, the social and competitive effects of gym-goers interacting through
biometric data in real-time have not previously been investigated.
