moBeat: Using Interactive Music to Guide and Motivate Users During Aerobic Exercising

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Springer Nature
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
2011
Authors
van der Vlist, B.
Bartneck, Christoph
Mäueler, S.
Abstract

An increasing number of people are having trouble staying fit and maintaining a healthy bodyweight because of lack of physical activity. Getting people to exercise is crucial. However, many struggle with developing healthy exercising habits, due to hurdles like having to leave the house and the boring character of endurance exercising. In this paper, we report on a design project that explores the use of audio to motivate and provide feedback and guidance during exercising in a home environment. We developed moBeat, a system that provides intensity-based coaching while exercising, giving real-time feedback on training pace and intensity by means of interactive music. We conducted a within-subject comparison between our moBeat system and a commercially available heart rate watch. With moBeat, we achieved a comparable success rate: our system has a significant, positive influence on intrinsic motivation and attentional focus, but we did not see significant differences with regard to either perceived exertion or effectiveness. Although promising, future research is needed.

Description
Citation
van der Vlist B, Bartneck C, Mäueler S (2011). moBeat: Using Interactive Music to Guide and Motivate Users During Aerobic Exercising. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. 36(2). 135-145.
Keywords
Sonification, Auditory feedback, Endurance exercising, Exercise coach, Interactive music
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Field of Research::17 - Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
Rights
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.