The GAME(Cycle) exercise system: comparison with standard ergometry.
BACKGROUND
It is well established that physical activity is beneficial to health. For the individual in a wheelchair, a regular exercise program might not be available or may be too difficult to participate in physically and/or psychologically. Many exercise devices and regimes are boring. The goal, therefore, is to develop a device that makes exercise more exciting and, thus, motivates a person to exercise more or for a longer period of time, yielding increased energy expenditure. Our laboratory developed an interface between an arm ergometer and a computer game that allows the user to control game play on the screen as if using a joystick. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) whether the GAME(Cycle) system would elicit an exercise effect similar to arm ergometry, (b) whether perceived exertion would be different between the 2 devices, and (c) individuals' impressions regarding the GAME(Cycle) system.


METHODS
Thirteen individuals who used wheelchairs participated in the study. Participants were asked to exercise for 2 separate, 19-minute sessions. For 1 session, a GAME(Cycle) system was used and for the other session, the same arm ergometer was used, but without the computer game being played. Physiologic data and perceived exertion were collected for each session.


RESULTS
There were significant differences between playing the game and not playing the game for VO2 (P = 0.03) and VCO2 (P = 0.02), with higher values being found when the game was played. Perceived exertion was not significantly different between the 2 trials.


CONCLUSIONS
GAME(Cycle) appears to be similar in nature with respect to energy expenditure to arm ergometry. Because this study was conducted on athletes, further research is needed with sedentary individuals to determine exercise effects and perceived exertion.
Fitzgerald
Shirley G
SG
Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. sgf9@pitt.edu
Cooper
Rory A
RA
Thorman
Tricia
T
Cooper
Rosemarie
R
Guo
SongFeng
S
Boninger
Michael L
ML
D000328:Adult; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D004867:Equipment Design; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D012984:Software; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D018910:Video Games; D014910:Wheelchairs