The Effects of Mental and Physical Load in Exergames on Gameplay Experiences

摘要

The purpose of this study was to observe how the mental load and physical load affect players' task load, enjoyment, flow, perceived competence, effort, performance and future play preference in exergames. Moreover, the interaction between mental and physical load for their effects on these variables was investigated. In a 3 (Mental Load: low-med-high) x 3 (Physical Load: low-med-high) between subject experimental setting, participants played an exergame including a "multiple object tracking" task. Mental load was manipulated by the number of target objects in the gameplay screen to be tracked and physical load was manipulated by the tension level of the exercise bike. Results showed that an increase in mental and physical load resulted in a significant increase in perceived task load and decrease in performance while performance also mediated these relationships. Moreover, a main effect of mental load on perceived effort was revealed. Although there were no significant differences in motivational experiences, such as enjoyment, flow and competence, between conditions with different levels of workloads, it was found that as mental and physical load increases, players' experience of enjoyment, flow and competence decreases. As being the first experimental study applying dual-task approach into exergames using subjective workload assessments, this study helps pave the way for future exergame research and design for better gameplay experiences by explaining the interactions in exergames.