Boxing: Exchange Game Design and Implementation

The workout developed for this research project included a second high cadence, low-resistance exercise to add variety to the cardiorespiratory exercise, maintain heart rate between the other exercises, and reduce the risk of overuse injury. This exercise was implemented as a boxing game (Figure 4, Multimedia Appendix 4). Players need to complete 30 punches to advance to the next round; there are 3 rounds (Figure 5). To progressively increase the workout intensity, the threshold that defined what constituted a punch increased with each round.

Participant plays the boxing exergame. The EMG sensor can be seen on the right bicep; phone is suspended by phone holder so that the user can monitor progress while playing. EMG: electromyography.

Sequence of screenshots during the boxing game. Each round gets progressively more difficult (the threshold for a punch being detected increases).