A Wall I Enjoy: Motivating Gentle Full-Body Movements Through Touchwall Interaction Compared to Standing and Sitting Smartphone Usage

Abstract

Sedentary occupations and recreational activities carried out primarily while seated promote extended time periods spent in unhealthy sitting postures, contributing to physical and mental health issues. While apps and reminders can be effective, they often fail to sustain enjoyment and motivation or do not target stationary settings. In our work, we investigate whether sedentary waiting periods could be broken up through gentle full-body movements via full-body interactions on a large touchwall instead of remaining seated or standing. In a mixed-methods study (N=18), we compared a Match-3 game played (1) on a full-body touchwall, (2) on a smartphone standing, and (3) on a smartphone sitting, investigating user experience, performance, and acceptance. The touchwall game subtly motivated people to move, stretch and bend their bodies without performance loss while enjoying the game compared to the smartphone conditions. We suggest that full-body touchwall interaction has the potential to fill occasional waiting time while encouraging breaking up sedentary behavior.