The Blexer system – Adaptive full play therapeutic exergames with web-based supervision for people with motor dysfunctionalities

Abstract

This work presents the “Blexer” (Blender Exergames) system for therapeutic exergames designed for people with physical dysfunctionalities. The users control the games with corporal movements, captured by the Kinect® sensor. Games incorporate an amplifying functionality that enhances the immersive feeling. Via the medical platform “Blexer-med”, clinicians configure the games individually for each patient. On the user’s PC, the middleware “Chiro” is used to transmit configuration data and results between the games and the web platform. Opposed to similar approaches found in literature, our system does not rely on pathology specific mini-games but focus on the design of generic “Full-Play” games, with a complete and compelling gaming environment. The principles of eight Core Drives defined in the Octalysis framework have been applied in the design of the first prototype game “Phiby’s Adventure” presented here. It contains four generic exercises useful for daily training.