Gaming Against Obesity

1. Ben Falconer Supervised by: Kurt Debattista Gaming Against Obesity

2. Introduction • Climbing game • Aimed at children • Using Nintendo Wii hardware

3. Background - Obesity • Obesity among children is growing • In 2006 over 17% of Year 6 children in the West Midlands were obese • Department of Health priority

4. Background – Serious Games • Serious Games • Games with serious applications • Used for • Education • Corporate training • Health

5. Background - Exergames • “Exergames” - games requiring exercise to play • Examples • Dance Dance Revolution • Wii Fit • Playstation Eye Toy • Used in schools for PE

6. Idea • Create a game that: • Requires exercise to play • Introduces the player to a new sport • Is attractive to children

7. Implementation • We aimed to create: • A game using the Nintendo Wii • A rock climbing game • A fun game

8. Development - Tools • C++ • Object Orientated • OGRE • Easy 3D engine • WiiUse • Use of Wii Remote over Bluetooth • All cross platform

9. Development - Cycle • Feature driven development • Define intended product • Create feature list • Design each feature • Write each feature

10. Development – Feature List • Basic Framework • Basic Controls • Wii Remote Connectivity • Wii Remote Controls • Character Movement • Wii Balance Board Connectivity • Wii Balance Board Controls

11. Development - Features • Basic Framework • Initial basic framework • Used OGRE to create basic 3D engine • Allowed loading and displaying 3D models

12. Development - Features • Basic Controls • Keyboard and mouse control • Used the Open Input System (OIS) • Allowed control of the camera

13. Development - Features • Wii Remote Connectivity • Making the Wii Remote interact with the PC • Bluetooth connection to PC • Used the WiiUse library to access the Wii Remote

14. Development – Features • Character Movement • Movement of hands and character separate • Grab onto holds to move • Let go of both hands and fall off

15. Development - Features • Wii Remote Controls • Hard to find movement in specific direction • Rotation much easier • Assumes the Wii Remote is held vertically • High pass filter eliminates most rotation • Very buggy • The game often has over a seconds lag • The characters hands will jump about the screen

16. Development - Features • Wii Balance Board Connectivity • Could not get the Balance Board to connect • Others have reported success before • Wii Balance Board Controls • Lack of connection meant that the Balance Board could not be used

17. Result • Playable game • Hard to play with Wii Remote • Placeholder models

18. Conclusions • Needs more work to be viable • Wii Remote controls • One of the main features of the game • No exercise with keyboard controls • Graphics • The current place holder graphics are unlikely to appeal to children

19. Thank you for listening • Questions?