Institute of Sport Science

Research Equipment

Exergaming Lab

The Exergaming Lab features various exergames (a combination of «exercise» and «gaming»). Unlike regular (sedentary) computer games, the person playing the exergame is physically active during the video game and has to perform a wide variety of movements. The range of games available in the exergaming lab covers commercial as well as specifically developed applications, which are stationary, portable or suitable for home use.

Stationary active video games: The Sphery ExerCube is a fitness game setting in which the person playing is surrounded by three walls that serve as both projection surface and haptic interface. By means of three projectors, PC and sound system as well as a heart-rate sensor and a motion-tracking system (HTC Vive), functional training can be performed in a playful manner in the ExerCube Sphery Racer.

Portable active video games: Two Sphery-Exercube-Go systems, consisting of a high-performance computer, an HTC Vive system, a heart-rate belt, and a single projector. This set-up can be used as portable exergaming system and thus be moved for research purposes with relatively little effort (for example, for research projects in school settings).

Home-based active video games: Twelve XBOX Kinect consoles including various commercial exergames such as Shape Up (Ubisoft), Kinect Sports Rivals (XBOX Game Studios) or Dance Dance Revolution (Konami) are available for field-based research projects. These consoles and games are user-friendly and can be easily connected to most TVs or projectors at home.