Physical activity enjoyment on an immersive VR exergaming platform

Virtual reality (VR) can be combined with exergames technology to provide highly immersive physical activity experiences. The design of VR exergames, so they are enjoyable and engaging, for different age groups, is currently under-investigated. In this paper, we study enjoyment of physical activity on VR-Rides, a virtual exergaming platform with a recumbent trike controller. In our experiment, we assigned participants to one of the two conditions; a static user interface (UI) or an Open World VR environment which allowed participants to explore a virtual location using Google's Street View 360 panorama images. In both conditions, participants could track their activity data in real-time. The results suggest higher enjoyment and more activity time in an Open World condition, where participants are encouraged to explore a virtual location. Almost half of participants in the UI condition showed disinterest after a short interaction time, due to the static environment.