Science Daily News: 12th July 2018

How do you motivate people to get up and exercise more? A team of researchers at the University of Iowa has one potential solution: Turn everyday exercise into a game. So the students designed a web-based game that can be played by anyone with a smartphone and a Fitbit.

The results of the pilot study were encouraging. "We essentially found that people who received the game right out of the gates increased their steps by about 2,200 per day, which is close to walking one mile," said Dr Lucas Carr - associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Physiology. "Statistically, that's significant. It's also clinically significant."

A team of researchers built a web-based app called MapTrek that can be synced with a Fitbit. MapTrek allows users to go on virtual walking tours of locations such as the Grand Canyon or Appalachian trail while competing against other users. A study showed MapTrek and Fitbit users averaged 2,200 more steps per day than a control group that used only Fitbits.

Find out more about this US research on turning exercise into a game.