Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Video Games for Encouraging Physical Exercise: A Review and Theoretical Framework

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-138-8_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Dynamic; Difficulty; Adjustment; Encourage; Exergame; Physical; Activity

Abstract

The goal of this literature survey is to evaluate whether Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) holds promise as a tool for encouraging greater amounts and higher quality forms of physical exercise in the context of video exergames. DDA is an algorithm that tracks player performance and modifies gameplay difficulty accordingly. Reviewing relevant research contributions, we analyse how well these techniques can foster increased physical activity levels, improve responses to sedentary behaviours, and enhance long-term adherence rates among exercisers. Lastly, we provide insight into how health-related campaigns might benefit from integrating such strategies. The effectiveness of DDA in promoting physical activity is then discussed. The conclusion is that DDA has the capacity to enhance levels of physical activity, motivation and enjoyment of exercise, as well as reduce sedentary behaviour. However, challenges remain in standardising DDA algorithms and balancing optimal difficulty challenges. Therefore, this review highlights the great potential of incorporating DDA in video games as a means to encourage physical activity and offers ideas and directions for future research in this area.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Aoran Li
AU  - Ian Chai
AU  - Kok-Why Ng
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/11/16
TI  - Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Video Games for Encouraging Physical Exercise: A Review and Theoretical Framework
BT  - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Creative Multimedia 2023 (ICCM 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 113
EP  - 121
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-138-8_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-138-8_11
ID  - Li2023
ER  -