Introduction
A basic principle in the RecTech approach to encouraging more healthy, active lifestyles for people with disabilities is that participation in exercise can be increased and adherence to exercise programs improved by making the exercise experience more engaging and enjoyable. Research has shown that opportunities to engage in cooperative, collaborative, or competitive exercise activities are associated with more frequent and sustained participation. People with disabilities face a number of barriers in seeking to form or join exercise groups due to inaccessible facilities, equipment, transportation, etc. A highly promising alternative lies in the rapidly developing and increasingly available communication capabilities provided by broadband Internet access. The Internet makes it possible for people who are geographically distant to share experiences within a virtual reality (VR). The sophistication and complexity of VR can range from simple tours of famous sites or vacation destinations through online competitive gaming to entire worlds such as Second Life (www.secondlife.com). The specific combination of exercise and video gaming technology, including some VR, is termed exergaming and the increasing popularity of exergaming was detailed in the article, “Let’s Get Physical” appearing in the March 8, 2007 edition of The Economist.
The RecTech vision for the use of VR in promoting healthy, active lifestyles for people with disabilities goes beyond the use of gaming as a motivational support tool. We seek to develop virtual exercise environments (VEEs) which can provide opportunies for social interaction, shared or group physical activity, guided demonstration and instruction, and specific fitness or rehabilitation training.
This fact sheet was last updated on 10-09-2009.
Accesskeys
(Activated)