虛擬鍛鍊夥伴助你保持健身動力範例

A cyber buddy might just give exercise enthusiasts—and those who are less than “enthused”—the extra nudge they need during a workout, new research suggests.

The study, which appears in the Games for Health Journal, is the first to indicate that although a human partner is still a better motivator during exercise, a software-generated partner also can be effective.

“We wanted to demonstrate that something that isn’t real can still motivate people to give greater effort while exercising than if they had to do it by themselves,” says Deborah Feltz, a professor in Michigan State University’s kinesiology department who led the study with co-investigator Brian Winn, associate professor in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

The implications from the research also could open the door for software and video game companies to create cyber buddy programs based on sport psychology.

“Unlike many of the current game designs out there, these results could allow developers to create exercise platforms that incorporate team or partner dynamics that are based on science,” says Feltz.

VIRTUAL BUDDY

Using “CyBud-X,” an exercise game specifically developed for Feltz’s research, 120 college-aged participants were given five different isometric plank exercises to do with one of three same-sex partner choices.

Along with a human partner option, two software-generated buddies were used—one representing what looked to be a nearly human partner and another that looked animated. The participant and partner image were then projected onto a screen via a web camera while exercising.

The results showed that a significant motivational gain was observed in all partner conditions.

“Even though participants paired with a human partner held their planks, on average, one minute and 20 seconds longer than those with no partner, those paired with one of the software-generated buddies still held out, on average, 33 seconds longer,” says Feltz.

PART OF A TEAM

Much of Feltz’s research in this area has focused on the Köhler Motivation Effect, a phenomenon that explains why people, who may not be adept exercisers themselves, perform better with a moderately better partner or team as opposed to working out alone.

Her findings give credence that programs such as “CyBud-X” can make a difference in the way people perform.

“We know that people tend to show more effort during exercise when there are other partners involved because their performance hinges on how the entire team does,” she says. “The fact that a nonhuman partner can have a similar effect is encouraging.”

The National Institutes of Health funded the study.一項新的研究顯示，一個虛擬夥伴可以讓鍛鍊熱愛者，還有那些不那麼狂熱的鍛鍊者，在鍛鍊過程中獲得額外動力。

該研究刊載於《遊戲健康雜誌》（Games for Health Journal），首次指出儘管擁有一個人類夥伴仍舊是在鍛鍊中更好的動力，但是，軟件生成的虛擬夥伴也同樣有效。

密歇根州立大學人體運動學院教授黛博拉·菲爾茲與交流藝術和科學學院副教授布萊恩·韋恩（Brian Winn）共同負責該項研究。菲爾茲說：“我們想要證明一些虛擬的事物仍舊可以激勵人們在鍛鍊時比他們平時自己做時更加努力。”

該項研究的結果也會啓發軟件和電子遊戲公司製作基於運動心理學的虛擬夥伴程序。

菲爾茲說：“不像一些現存的遊戲設計，研究的結果可以讓開發者製作鍛鍊平臺，科學地在平臺中收錄團隊或是夥伴可以給人帶來的動力。”

虛擬夥伴

使用專爲菲爾茲研究設計的鍛鍊遊戲——“CyBud-X”，120名20多歲的參與者進行五種不同的可提高肌肉張力的平板支撐鍛鍊，他們要從3名同性中挑出一位作爲自己的夥伴。

在試驗中，一個人除了一名人類夥伴，還有兩個軟件生成夥伴——一個看起來與人類夥伴相近，另一個則看起來十分卡通。在鍛鍊中，參與鍛鍊者和夥伴的圖像將會通過網絡攝像頭投射在大屏幕上。

結果顯示，在所有有夥伴的情況下，參與者的動力都大大提高了。

菲爾茲說：“儘管擁有人類夥伴的參與者平均平板支撐能保持1分鐘，這比沒有夥伴的參與者多了20秒，但是那些有軟件生成虛擬夥伴的參與者則可以再多保持33秒。”

團隊的一部分

在菲爾茲這裏領域的許多研究，都注重“克勒動機效應”（The Köhler Motivation Effect）。這是一個現象，用來解釋爲什麼人，儘管有時並沒有親身進行鍛鍊，但在與一個表現更好的夥伴或是團隊中會比獨自一人鍛鍊表現的更好。

她的發現使得像“CyBud-X”這樣可以改變人們行爲方式的項目得到認可。

她說：“我們知道，當在鍛鍊中有其他夥伴參與的時候，人們傾向於表現的更爲賣力。因爲他們的表現與整個團隊的表現息息相關。事實上，一個非人類夥伴同樣可以有鼓舞人心的作用。”

該研究由美國國家衛生研究院資助。