Search

With respect to physical fitness, activity and wellbeing, digital games are often considered as “screen-time”, which reduces healthy physical activities, often causing the player to sit down and eat unhealthily while playing. However, when recognising and identifying the persuasive properties in games, their “magic circle” can be used to activate and move the players instead of passivating them. Many Augmented Reality Games (ARGs), such as Ingress Prime and Pokémon GO, can increase the physical activity of the players. This multidisciplinary dissertation examines, identifies and categorises persuasive properties of several ARGs, studied in the arctic context. The findings of this study are based on qualitative material, such as participant observation, interviews, discussions and comments of the players as well as quantitative data. This study is an applied digital ethnography, comprising of both offline and online interactions, material and methods. The qualitative material was analysed applying content analysis and the statistical material was analysed using statistical software analysis. The findings were reflected in the light of several cultural and motivational theories, such as the flow and self-determination theories, as well as theories considering digital persuasion. Digital, as well as traditional, games are inherently persuasive; they lure the player to continue playing. Based on this study, the “digital magic circle” comprises multiple cultural and psychological factors, as well as several factors related specifically to digital media. Essentially, games offer the players purposeful activity with clear and achievable goals: the more successful the game design, the stronger the persuasive power. Playing such games may cause the optimal experience (flow) in player, often resulting in the player to play even more. Such persuasiveness could be implemented in “moving games” like ARGs, increasing the player’s physical activity, affecting health and w, Tiivistelmä Fyysisen kunnon, aktiivisuuden ja hyvinvoinnin kannalta digitaalisten pelien pelaaminen käsitetään usein ”ruutuajaksi”, joka istuttaa pelaajan sohvalle, ja usein myös syömään epäterveellisesti pelatessaan. Samalla pelaaminen vähentää terveyden kannalta tärkeän fyysisen aktiivisuuden määrää. Pelien suostuttelevien ominaisuuksien tiedostamisella ja tunnistamisella niiden ”taikapiiriä” voidaan kuitenkin hyödyntää pelaajien aktivoimisessa ja liikuttamisessa passivoinnin sijaan. Monien Lisätyn Todellisuuden Pelien (ARGs, Augmented Reality Games), kuten Ingress Prime ja Pokémon GO, ajatellaan lisäävän pelaajien fyysistä aktiivisuutta. Tässä monitieteisessä väitöstyössä tarkastellaan, tunnistetaan ja luokitellaan lisätyn todellisuuden pelien suostuttelevia ominaisuuksia arktisessa viitekehyksessä. Tutkimuksen tulokset perustuvat osallistuvaan havainnointiin, pelaajien haastatteluihin, keskusteluihin ja kommentteihin sekä tilastolliseen aineistoon. Kyseessä on soveltava etnografinen tutkimus, joka rakentuu niin verkossa kuin sen ulkopuolella tapahtuvaan toimintaan, tutkimusaineistoon ja menetelmiin. Laadullinen aineisto analysoitiin sisällönanalyysin menetelmin, ja määrällinen aineisto tilastoanalyysin menetelmin. Tuloksia reflektoitiin erinäisiin kulttuuri- ja motivaatioteorioihin, kuten Flow- ja itseohjautuvuus teorioihin, sekä digitaalista suostuttelevuutta koskeviin teorioihin. Digitaaliset, siinä missä perinteisetkin pelit, ovat itsessään suostuttelevia; ne houkuttelevat pelaajaa jatkamaan pelaamista. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella ”Digitaalinen taikapiiri” muodostuu erinäisistä kulttuurisista ja psykologisista tekijöistä, sekä digitaalisiin medioihin liittyvistä erityispiirteistä. Pelit tarjoavat pelaajilleen tarkoituksenmukaista toimintaa, johon kuuluvat selkeät ja saavutettavissa olevat päämäärät. Mitä paremmin peli on suunniteltu, sitä tehokkaammin se myös suostuttelee. Tällaisten pelien pelaaminen voi aiheuttaa pelaajassa optimaalisen kokemuksen (Flow)

Background: The majority of young people do not meet the recommendations on physical activity for health. New innovative ways to motivate young people to adopt a physically active lifestyle are needed. Objective: The study aimed to study the feasibility of an automated, gamified, tailored Web-based mobile service aimed at physical and social activation among young men. Methods: A population-based sample of 496 young men (mean age 17.8 years [standard deviation 0.6]) participated in a 6-month randomized controlled trial (MOPO study). Participants were randomized to an intervention (n=250) and a control group (n=246). The intervention group was given a wrist-worn physical activity monitor (Polar Active) with physical activity feedback and access to a gamified Web-based mobile service, providing fitness guidelines, tailored health information, advice of youth services, social networking, and feedback on physical activity. Through the trial, the physical activity of the men in the control group was measured continuously with an otherwise similar monitor but providing only the time of day and no feedback. The primary outcome was the feasibility of the service based on log data and questionnaires. Among completers, we also analyzed the change in anthropometry and fitness between baseline and 6 months and the change over time in weekly time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Results: Mobile service users considered the various functionalities related to physical activity important. However, compliance of the service was limited, with 161 (64.4%, 161/250) participants visiting the service, 118 (47.2%, 118/250) logging in more than once, and 41 (16.4%, 41/250) more than 5 times. Baseline sedentary time was higher in those who uploaded physical activity data until the end of the trial (P=.02). A total of 187 (74.8%, 187/250) participants in the intervention and 167 (67.9%, 167/246) in the control group participated in the final measurements. There were

In this work, it was tested if a computer game and wearable sensors could be used to motivate young men to increase their everyday activity. The game itself was planned so that the possibility to play the game and success in it was dependent of how much activity the subject achieved during his everyday life. A pilot version of a computer game, called Space Pioneer, was developed for this purpose while the activity measures were collected using three type of sensors: pedometer, Polar Active activity monitor or mobile phone application. The results were varying; although many subjects did not even try the game or disliked it, the awareness of subjects’ own physical condition as well as daily activity information were found out to be motivating factors in the target group.