Motivating Players to Perform an Optional Strenuous Activity in a Virtual Reality Exergame Using Virtual Performance Augmentation

Abstract

Research on VR Exergaming is mostly conducted with participants who are not presented a choice whether or not to play the exergame and thus to perform a certain strenuous activity. Whether players would engage in such activity if it were optional and how they could be motivated to do so is mostly neglected. Therefore, we have developed a novel controller and implemented a VR exergame that utilizes Virtual Performance Augmentation (VPA) to motivate players to engage in an optional strenuous activity. The motivational impact of three different conditions (VPA vs. Points vs. No Motivator) was evaluated in a study with 47 participants. Our results suggest that using VPA can significantly increase the time the players engage in the strenuous activity enriched by VPA, while in contrast to our hypotheses, no significant differences for the players' enjoyment and perceived exertion between the conditions were found. We discuss our findings in the context of motivation, exertion, and the resulting implications for further VR exergames research.