Projects

Physical and Mental Wellness Exercises

This project is currently exploring the ways in which technology can be used to make Foot Rallies a practical way to get physical exercise and mental stimulation.

Put simply, a Foot Rally (also known as a Scavenger/Puzzle Hunt or, when automobiles are involved, a Road Rally) is a multi-player (or multi-team) competition in which the different players attempt to solve a sequence of geographically dispersed puzzles often in a particular amount of time. The problem with Foot Rallies is that they take a tremendous amount of time to create and each one can be used only once (by particular players).

As part of this project we are designing, developing and comparing the effectiveness of two different types of computerized Rallies:

Electronic Delivery of Puzzles/Clues: In this system, each player will have a location-aware mobile computing device (e.g., a GPS-enabled smartphone). The puzzles/clues will be provided to the player when she/he arrives at the designated locations.
Virtual Reality: In this system, the "playing field" is simulated and players move from location to location by "walking in place". The player's speed will be measured using a pedometer, and the visualization of the simulated playing field will change as the player "moves".

The effectiveness of these two computerized systems will be compared with each other and with the effectiveness of traditional Rallies.

Vestibular Compensation Exercises

This project is exploring ways in which technology can be used to help individuals with poor balance, dizziness or coordination problems.

It is generally understood that exercises, like the Cawthorne-Cooksey suite, can train people to compensate for lost or disrupted vestibular signals. Unfortunately, however, these exercises can be very boring. Though existing exercise gaming systems seem to make exercise less of a chore, a recent analysis of the Wii Fit conducted at JMU demonstrates that they do not adequately cover the Cawthorne-Cooksey (and related) suites.

Hence, as part of this project we are designing, developing and evaluating the effectiveness of computer games designed specifically for people with balance problems.