International Journal of Computer Trends and Technology (IJCTT) – Volume 54 Issue 3- December 2017
ISSN: 2231-2803 http://www.ijcttjournal.org Page 133
Virtual Reality Games to Promote Healthy
Behavior Choices
Alice J. Lin1
#1
, Charles B. Chen
*2
, Fuhua (Frank) Cheng
#3
#1
University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO 64093, USA
*2
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
#3
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506, USA
Abstract — Poor dietary choices and sedentary
lifestyles are common in today’s society. These
choices can cause low self-esteem as well as
significant social, psychological, and other health
problems. Video games provide extensive player
involvement for a large number of children and
adults, and thereby provide a channel to deliver
health behavior changing experiences and messages
in an engaging and entertaining format. Virtual
reality (VR) is an artificial environment that is
created with software and presented to the player in
such a way that the player suspends disbelief and
accepts it as the real environment. In this paper, we
propose a new design of a VR game. The goal of this
game is to encourage young people to make healthy
behavior choices by reinforcing specific messages
through the VR game experience. The players will
enjoy the thrill of the VR world as they navigate
their way through different levels and missions while
learning about healthy behavior choices.
Keywords — virtual reality, game, education,
healthy behavior.
I. INTRODUCTION
Today, the number of children in the United
States is at an all-time high of 86 million. Among
the millions of children in our communities, poor
dietary choices and sedentary lifestyles cause serious
health problems, low self-esteem, and social and
psychological problems that contribute to poor
quality of life and long-term outcomes. If this
pattern continues into adulthood, it will lead to an
unprecedented rate of premature death and disability,
diminished workplace productivity, and serious
financial repercussions for those individuals and
healthcare providers [1].
Ordinary school health curricula and other
behavior changing interventions targeted at children
sometimes have only had limited effectiveness [2, 3].
New channels are needed to reach children that offer
the promise of promoting substantial health-related
behavior changes [4]. One such new channel is the
video game, since many children spend numerous
hours playing them. Using video games to promote
behavior change could capitalize on children’s pre-
existing attention to and enjoyment of them [5].
―Serious video games‖ are designed to entertain
players as they educate, train, or change behavior [6].
Video games provide extensive player
involvement for a large number of children and
adults, and thereby provide a channel to deliver
health behavior changing experiences and messages
in an engaging and entertaining format [5]. Video
games appeal to a wide range of individuals,
regardless of age, gender, and cultural background.
Not surprisingly, they have both broad reach and
appeal, making them a potentially powerful channel
for reaching large numbers of both youths and adults
with health promoting messages [7].
People of all ages and backgrounds play
electronic games enthusiastically for entertainment
and fun, as well as for motivation and learning.
According to surveys, 155 million Americans play
video games regularly. More than 40 percent of all
gamers are female [8]. A recent study shows that
around 99% of American boys play video games,
along with 94% of girls [9]. Considerable literature
reveals video games to be a powerful teaching tool
[10-12].
Serious video games attempt to entertain while
encouraging some kind of change, such as change in
the player’s attitudes, beliefs, risk perceptions,
knowledge, or skills. The aim is to ultimately change
behavior. Thus, serious video games have dual, and
seemingly disparate, goals of ―fun-ness‖ and
―seriousness‖ [5]. Serious video games for health are
more likely to be effective if they target factors that
are closely and causally related to the behavior of
interest [13]. Behavioral science offers insight into
how to design serious video games for health that
achieve the dual goals of entertaining (i.e., ―fun-