The goal of this interventional study is to assess the difference in participants' motivation while performing a virtual reality-based dual-task exercise in a single-player vs. multi-player modality. The populations involved are the following: healthy young adults (14-18 ys.); children and adolescents (12-17 ys.) with motor disorders; older adults with neurological or respiratory conditions. The main questions it aims to answer are: Is a "social" virtual environment better in promoting motivation to perform physical exercise? Is a "social" virtual environment better in promoting involvement, perceived social inclusion, and exercise performance? Forty participants will test the single-player and the multi-player scenarios in a single-session and will rate their experiences with subjective questionnaires. A subgroup of participants (12) will use the multi-player system for 3 weeks/3 times a week.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
86
Pairs of participants are formed, who will be the SocialBike players; these pairs consist of users from the same center. The two players are in the same room where two replicas of the SocialBike system are installed. The participants can each view, on their own screen, the virtual scenario, either a park or a city environment. Movement within these VR environments is synchronized with the patient's actual pedaling speed, measured in revolutions per minute (RPM) from the cycle ergometer. Movement occurs along a predefined path. The participant's heart rate will always be monitored. The therapist chooses the optimal ergometer workload, the type of exercise, and social/single-player mode. Each session (either single- or multi-player mode) lasts 10 minutes. The available exercise are: "Find the intruder" (go/no-go task); "Prepare your Meal" (spatial attention); "Watch the road" (working memory).
IRCCS E. Medea
Bosisio Parini, LC, Italy
IRCCS INRCA Casatenovo
Casatenovo, LC, Italy
Villa Beretta Rehabilitation Clinic - Valduce Hospital
Costa Masnaga, LC, Italy
CNR-STIIMA - Lecco
Lecco, Lecco, Italy
Motivation
Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS; Guay et al. 2000). This questionnaire is composed of 16 items to be rated with a Likert scale going from 1 (corresponds not all) to 7 (corresponds exactly). Items are grouped in four different subscale (Intrinsic Motivation, Identified Regulation, External Regulation, Amotivation). Each subscale score can vary between 1 (minimum) and 7 (maximum).
Time frame: Day 1 - at the end of the test with Condition 1 (single- or multi-player); Day 1 - at the end of the test with Condition 2 (multi- or single-player). At the end of the 4th and the 8th sessions for the participants performing 3 weeks of training.
Usability
System Usability Scale (Brooke, 1996) - The scale ranges from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate better usability. Ratings can be described as follows: "Excellent" (85-100); "Good" (70-84); "Average" (50-69); "Poor" (\<50).
Time frame: Day 1
Involvement
Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ) (IJsselsteijn, et al., 2013)- GEQ is composed of several subscales: Competence, Sensory and Imaginative Immersion, Flow, Tension/Annoyance, Challenge, Negative Affect, Positive Affect. Each subscale ranges from 0, which means "Not at all", and 4, which means "Extremely". Higher score corresponds stronger experience in that dimension.
Time frame: Day 1 - at the end of the test with Condition 1 (single- or multi-player); Day 1 - at the end of the test with Condition 2 (multi- or single-player). At the end of the 4th and the 8th sessions for the participants performing 3 weeks of training.
Perceived social inclusion
ad-hoc question; the question will address how much participants feel included while performing the physical activity. The answer ranges from 0 "not at all" to 4 "completely included".
Time frame: Day 1 - at the end of the test with Condition 1 (single- or multi-player); Day 1 - at the end of the test with Condition 2 (multi- or single-player). At the end of the 4th and the 8th sessions for the participants performing 3 weeks of training.
Game and physical performance
The system automatically stores a file containing each player game and physical data for the session. In particular, the file will contain the exercise information: scenario, duration, task performed, level of difficulty, game mode (collaborative/competitive). In terms of performance, the following outcomes will be collected: average speed \[revolutions per minute\], average heart rate \[beats per minute\], personal score in the cognitive task \[# points collected\], final score in \[# points collected by the two players if collaborative, equal to personal if competitive\].
Time frame: Data are stored automatically by the system each time the application is launched. Outcomes data are collected during each session of SocialBike use, i.e., during the single-sessions and each session of the 3 weeks of training.
Endurance
Assisted 6-minute cycling test (A6MCT)
Time frame: At the baseline; at the end of the 8th session (only for participants performing the 3 weeks of training).
Physical activity inclination
Ad-hoc question; the question will address how much participants are motivated in performing physical activity. The answer ranges from 0 "not at all" to 4 "extremely motivated".
Time frame: At the baseline; at the end of the 8th session (only for participants performing the 3 weeks of training).
Attitude toward technology
Ad-hoc question; the question will address how much participants feel at ease while interacting with technology. The answer ranges from 0 "not at all" to 4 "extremely at ease".
Time frame: At the baseline; at the end of the 8th session (only for participants performing the 3 weeks of training).
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