Exploring Human Quadruped Locomotion for Exergames

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Ahmed, Shamit, Hämäläinen, Perttu
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Ahmed, Shamit
Hämäläinen, Perttu
author_facet Ahmed, Shamit
Hämäläinen, Perttu
contents Embodying non-human characters and exercising abdominal muscles are both underexplored in exergames. We address this by describing the design and evaluation of a novel human quadruped locomotion exergame. In the game, the player lies supine on the ground and moves their arms and legs to control a quadrupedal character (a tiger), similar to common bodyweight abdominal muscle exercises such as the Bicycle Crunch. The motion tracking is computer vision-based, utilizing a Kinect sensor placed above the player, which makes our approach suitable for commercial premises such as indoor activity parks where a system needs to run unattended and without any wearable components. Our system extends embodied interaction beyond traditional bipedal or controller-based systems, demonstrating how natural limb movements can generate responsive and immersive quadrupedal motion within virtual environments. We conducted a user study (N=15) to evaluate the system's intuitiveness, control, and overall player experience. The findings demonstrate the usability and potential of our system, highlighting its intense physical nature. Participants reported that gameplay immersion masked physical exertion, allowing them to perceive rigorous core training primarily as play.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_15428
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Exploring Human Quadruped Locomotion for Exergames
Ahmed, Shamit
Hämäläinen, Perttu
Human-Computer Interaction
Embodying non-human characters and exercising abdominal muscles are both underexplored in exergames. We address this by describing the design and evaluation of a novel human quadruped locomotion exergame. In the game, the player lies supine on the ground and moves their arms and legs to control a quadrupedal character (a tiger), similar to common bodyweight abdominal muscle exercises such as the Bicycle Crunch. The motion tracking is computer vision-based, utilizing a Kinect sensor placed above the player, which makes our approach suitable for commercial premises such as indoor activity parks where a system needs to run unattended and without any wearable components. Our system extends embodied interaction beyond traditional bipedal or controller-based systems, demonstrating how natural limb movements can generate responsive and immersive quadrupedal motion within virtual environments. We conducted a user study (N=15) to evaluate the system's intuitiveness, control, and overall player experience. The findings demonstrate the usability and potential of our system, highlighting its intense physical nature. Participants reported that gameplay immersion masked physical exertion, allowing them to perceive rigorous core training primarily as play.
title Exploring Human Quadruped Locomotion for Exergames
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.15428