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benchmarking mechanism, which made the participants aware of their comparative
performance [5].
Numerous projects within the field of exertion games use HR as an interaction
method for controlling games [8,9]. However, most exertion games focus on creating
new fitness activities instead of using technology to augment existing fitness
activities. Furthermore, common for many exertion games is that the biometric data is
not directly shared between players, but instead used as a mechanism to control or
balance the games [6].
In [7], Mueller et al. facilitated that spatially distributed joggers could jog together.
The work investigates, among other things, how HR from the participants can be used
to facilitate a social experience between joggers. Moreover, Walmink et al. have
created a bike helmet with a HR display, which resulted in social interplay and
increased engagement in the exertion activity [10].
Compared to the presented related work, our focus is on the motivational effects
and challenges of using biometric data for interaction in existing fitness activities.
3
The Race By Hearts Smartphone App
To measure and share the individual HR of each participant in an interactive way, we
developed an iPhone application called Race By Hearts (RBH). RBH displays HR,
intensity level (based on percentage of MAX HR), and current intensity zone for all
users in one list, which is shared between all users as seen on Figure 1. The users'
positions in the list are dynamic and based on intensity level, where the user with the
highest intensity is positioned on top. This enables the users to control their position
within the list by adjusting their effort throughout a session. The use of intensity level,
instead of HR, provides a natural balancing of the users' efforts. Each user's HR is
captured via a Polar H7 heart rate belt, which is parried to RBH through a Bluetooth
4.0 connection.
Fig. 1.
Left, RBH interface.
Right
, test setup where an iPhone 5 running RBH is mounted on an
indoor bike.
