Exercise with your PDA

University of Houston professor Ioannis Pavlidis has, together with research assistants Yuichi Fujiki and Kostas Kazakos, developed a game that actually translates physical activity into games that you can run on practically any PDA or mobile phone. Through the NEAT motion sensor (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) your actual movement is translated and transferred, wirelessly, to your PDA and you gain points, speed or whatever the game is about. For example if you play a game of track running, your activity will be translated into speed, in real-time, and the more you move the faster your avatar will run.

You will then be able to connect and compete with others through the regular mobile phone networks, meaning that you and your friends, colleagues or even people at competing companies can organize competitions and compete in various events. The game doesn’t have to be a prioritized task, but can run in the background while you do your everyday job, and every time you decide to get up and move around you will gain points.

This project started as an attempt to come to terms with the fact that all too few people perform any kind of daily exercise. Not necessarily going to the gym, but just going for a slow jog or walk the dog. NEAT is just supposed to accompany you throughout the day and add a dimension to your movement, giving you positive feedback to your decision to burn some calories.

”We hope the games can increase physical activity, add a dosage of everyday fun and embed NEAT in the modern lifestyle,” Pavlidis said. ”We expect an almost ‘addictive’ behavior resulting from this game, much like the habit of playing solitaire during breaks is an everyday ritual for many people. Because of the way we live today, people are sitting all the time, so moving more is always a good thing.”

The first tests have been very successful and in one case a student lost as much as 40 pounds in five months using NEAT. They are developing new games all the time to broaden the appeal of NEAT to more people and right now Pavlidis is working on a version of sodoku where the user gains more numbers to fill in the squares through physical activity.

Certainly an interesting project that shows great promise in the obese world of ours. We’re not sure if this was inspired by the Nintendo Wii or if was developed simultaneously, but in any case it’s a win-win situation.