Exertion interfaces : sports over a distance for social bonding and fun

Social interaction is an essential part of human communication, however the participants are often miles apart. Technological advances strive to bridge the physical distances between people, but generally lack the social potential offered through activities such as sports and games. An Exertion Interface combines the strength of both: the ability of sports to connect people socially, and the ability of telecommunications to connect people over a distance. By requiring intense physical effort from the participants, an Exertion Interface creates a better social bonding experience than traditional computer interfaces. This assertion is tested through the creation of a system in which two remotely-located participants play a physically demanding ball game against each other while communicating through an overlaid life-size video-conference. A study with 56 participants showed that players who used the Exertion Interface played longer, said they got to know the other player better, had more fun, became better friends, and were happier with the transmitted audio and video quality in comparison to a control group playing the game with the same video-conferencing setup, but using a traditional keyboard interface. Exertion Interfaces, which are easy to learn, but hard to master, open a door to a new world of interfaces that facilitate social interaction between remote individuals.

Department dc:contributor.department

Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Mueller, Florian

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Rosalind W. Picard.

• Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62370

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/62370