Exercise

Cyber cyclists count calories with adaptive virtual workouts

Nathan Kahl — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 13:41:21 +0000

Cyber cyclists count calories with adaptive virtual workouts Nathan Kahl Fri, 09/15/2023 - 09:41

For many, exercise is a laborious chore, better put off until tomorrow. But Craig Yu, an associate professor in the ��AV Department of Computer Science, is hoping a combination of virtual reality and gamification will make exercise an appealing—and even fun—endeavor.

Virtual reality (VR) is becoming ubiquitous, popping up in everything from serious activities like military applications and surgery support to recreational activities like theme park attractions and at-home video games.

Yu and colleagues are seeking to use the immersive VR world to help make exercise appealing. And more than that, they want to tailor your exercise routine to your fitness needs and abilities, in real time.

With Yu's program, a virtual cyclist's path will adapt to exercise outputs. Image courtesy of Craig Yu.

Imagine strapping on a VR headset and hopping on a stationary bike. You input goals such as calorie burn, heart rate changes, and other exertion targets. You then choose the terrain you want—maybe it’s a rocky hill or a desert scene and maybe a hazard or particular landmark is added for aesthetics. The game will then suggest path length and difficulty, among other things, to help you meet those goals. After you set off and your exercise output changes and fluctuates, the path will adjust in real time so that you ultimately get the precise workout you are seeking. Along the way, elements of gamification like point scoring, goal achievement, and collecting bonuses work to incentivize you.

To develop this technology, the researchers hacked a gym bicycle with a step motor, which controls the bike’s resistance according to the elevation of the VR terrain. If the user goes uphill, the bike's resistance will increase accordingly such that the user has to push to climb the hill, resulting in haptic realism and also the desired exertion effects.

Yu has a grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) I-Corps program to further develop what for now is called “the exertion-aware path generator.” I-Corps “prepares scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory to increase the economic and societal impact of NSF-funded projects.” It helps academics think about commercializing their product via market research, iterative product development, and other common elements of bringing a product to market. While what they built was a prototype, the team is learning how to develop their creation to appeal to gym equipment companies such as Peloton, for example.

The I-Corps program is extensive, Yu says. “We have one month where we meet with NSF coaches and members of other teams. We learn different aspects of commercialization and customer discovery.” Among other things, participants must interview at least 100 potential customers about their product, helping to determine if a market actually exists for the device and, if so, if the product meets customer needs in its present form.

Yu says they talked to people from defense contractors, government agencies, and schools, among other places, with positive feedback, mostly around the practical challenges of using and getting used to VR experiences.

Yu is optimistic about the future of VR, noting that an extensive gaming culture among incoming college students leads many to want to explore research in the field. He recalls his own interest. “I was a junior faculty when Oculus Quest (an early VR headset) came out. It really amazed me! It was very cheap and we could do a lot of research projects based on it, including developing training and education programs.”

Yu says those practical uses are just now being fully explored. “On one hand, you need to make training really effective, not just fun. It should teach people something essential for their job. If someone performs very well in VR training, does it mean the person can perform equally well in the workplace? So there's a gap here and this is exactly what researchers are looking at, like whether people can transfer the knowledge effectively.”

But in the meantime, strap on the VR headset, pull up a course ending on the Champs-Élysées and pretend you’re wearing the yellow jersey as you hit that calorie goal. Fortunately, the croissants waiting for you at your ride’s end are only virtual.

Thumbnail art created by Simon Waldherr under CC BY-SA 4.0.

In This Story

Craig Yu

Learn more about Computer Science at Mason

Topics

virtual reality

computer science

Computer Game Technology

Exercise

entrepreneurship

I-Corps

National Science Foundation

Research

Master of Public Health student advocates for community health as This is Public Health ambassador

John Brandon Cantrell — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:34:13 +0000

Master of Public Health student advocates for community health as This is Public Health ambassador John Brandon C… Mon, 09/26/2022 - 09:34

Explore Mason's MPH Program

Topics

Public Health

This is Public Health

Jacqueline Clabeaux led an inclusive social media campaign on the value of exercise in the public’s health for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).

Jacqueline Clabeaux , MPH 2023

Master of Public Health (MPH) student Jacqueline Clabeaux knows that leading communities to practice healthier lifestyles is a key role for public health professionals. That’s why she focused her ASPPH This is Public Health (TIPH) Student Ambassador social media campaign on educating people on how to improve their health while strengthening their local communities through physical activities.

“When public health is working at its full capacity, that’s when you see the most inclusiveness within communities and populations because everyone is on board to solve a problem and make their community a better place,” Clabeaux said. “I knew that most people understood what exercise is and how it impacts your body, so I took another approach and focused on how exercise can impact populations and communities.”

Clabeaux, a student-athlete for Mason’s swim team, concentrated her campaign on community building after learning from her MPH coursework that community is an essential factor in an individual’s life and health. Her campaign educated TIPH’s 30,000 followers about how they can improve their community’s health through more physical activity, such as working out in a community gym or swimming pool, exploring scenery in local neighborhoods, and spending time with others while exercising. These types of activities support individuals’ physical, behavioral, and emotional health.

Uplifting Community Health

Her week-long takeover on TIPH’s Instagram and Twitter accounts consisted of graphics on how exercise impacted her life and how exercise aids the public’s health. She also provided ideas to encourage others to exercise within their community. In doing this, she considered physical differences and community demographics to ensure her campaign was inclusive of diverse populations.

“If you live in an area where health resources are scarce, there is a higher chance that this can negatively impact your life compared to areas where health resources are abundant,” Clabeaux said. “If I could spread awareness about exercise and how it can impact communities, there is hope that this topic can build upon a community’s overall health.”

Clabeaux continued, “I wanted to make exercise look more fun to engage in and potentially entice other people to build a network of people to exercise with and that people can look at exercise in a different and fun way that can make an entire community healthier and happier.”

Students who pursue a TIPH student ambassadorship lead national presentations and campaigns to raise awareness of public health education, careers, and issues. In the past, Mason’s TIPH student ambassadors led awareness campaigns on growing a career in public health and bringing attention to the historical public health disparities affecting specific populations.

Moving Forward

For Clabeaux, being a TIPH student ambassador was a rewarding experience where she could grow as a public health professional.

“The most important lesson I learned is how to be more inclusive with how I word my posts,” Clabeaux said. “For example, some people do not have the ability to work out due to physical limitations, disabilities, etc., so I had to make sure that I was using inclusive words so that everyone would benefit from my posts.”

After graduating with her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in epidemiology in 2023, Clabeaux aspires to continue her education and become a physician’s assistant, a career where she will help communities learn the value of exercising to improve their health and aid in disease prevention.

“I’ve had a passion for the medical field since I was very young, and my goal was always to become a medical professional of some sort when I was older,” said Clabeaux. “I found that the human body is capable of many extraordinary things, and I would love to learn as much as I can about our bodies and share it with others.”

Medical News Today: Dr. Lawrence J. Cheskin comments in an exercise-induced molecule that allegedly suppresses hunger

eander6 — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 15:49:16 +0000

Medical News Today: Dr. Lawrence J. Cheskin comments in an exercise-induced molecule that allegedly suppresses hunger eander6 Wed, 06/22/2022 - 11:49

In This Story

Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD

Exercise-induced molecule suppresses hunger, may help treat obesity.

Topics

College of Health and Human Services

College of Health and Human Services Department of Nutrition and Food Studies

Exercise is Medicine honors Mason for creating a well-being culture

Colleen Rich — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 17:28:07 +0000

Exercise is Medicine honors Mason for creating a well-being culture Colleen Rich Tue, 04/12/2022 - 13:28

��AV earned a silver-level designation from Exercise is Medicine-On Campus (EIM-OC) for its commitment to health and wellness.

The Mason community gathers for the annual Happy Heart Walk on the Fairfax Campus. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Mason is one of 156 universities and colleges around the world to be honored by Exercise is Medicine^® for its efforts to create a well-being culture on campus. The silver rating highlights campuses that engage students, faculty, and staff in education initiatives and make movement part of the daily campus culture.

University-wide initiatives that contributed to the rating include the Mason Nation Thriving Together 5k, a Mason Exercise is Medicine Instagram account, and other activities including fitness webinars, bingo, and an exercise is medicine walk led by a health and fitness professional.

In summer 2021, Debra Stroiney, EIM-OC advisor in Mason’s School of Kinesiology, partnered with Becky Demus, assistant director of fitness at Mason Recreation, to form Mason’s first EIM-OC leadership team. The team includes faculty, staff, and students who want to help promote how exercise is in fact medicine.

Demus said the team has formed strong partnerships across campus to help educate students on the importance of physical activity.

“We want to spread the word to the Mason community that exercise should be thought of as medicine, and that you can make exercise work for you—in a way that fits your schedule and is enjoyable,” Demus said.

One goal of the leadership team is to establish a health assessment program that will be accessible on all campuses, as well as a referral program with Student Health Services and Counseling and Psychological Services.

“With this team we are working to increase the visibility of this important initiative on all campuses,” Stoiney said.

The program recognized 156 colleges and universities this year, with 73 earning gold, 50 earning silver, an 23 earning bronze recognition. All 156 will be recognized on June 1 as part of the 2022 Exercise is Medicine World Congress, held in conjunction with the American College of Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting.

“We are thrilled to recognize these campuses’ commitment to make movement a part of daily campus culture and give students the tools to cultivate physical activity habits that will benefit them throughout their lives,” said Robyn Stuhr, vice president of Exercise is Medicine.

The American College of Sports Medicine co-launched Exercise is Medicine® in 2007 with the American Medical Association. EIM-OC, which launched in 2014, calls on universities and colleges to promote physical activity as a vital sign of health, and encourages faculty, staff, and students to work together to improve their campus community’s health and well-being.