Pedals and fun: cycling game improves hospital experience for children with heart defects

Cycling as fast as you can on a fitness machine: children with heart conditions often have to undergo exercise stress tests that guide medical decisions. However, children under the age of 10 cannot always find the motivation to push to their maximum effort during such tests. Sander Bakkes, Tim Takken and Martijn Slieker have received a grant for the FoxFIT project: they hope to tackle this problem with an applied game. Bakkes has high hopes: “We expect that the game will motivate children to go all out, making the test results more reliable.”

Applied game

“In the FoxFIT project, we will develop an applied game to support the exercise stress test, together with children and their parents. The game will also smartly interact with sensor data from the cycle ergometer. We want to offer children an experience that is genuinely motivating,” Bakkes explains. “Additionally, we aim to contribute to a more positive patient journey for the child, especially in the phase where children and their parents or caregivers are preparing for a hospital visit. The more positively a child views an upcoming hospital visit, the better it will be for their medical treatment.”

Bakkes, drawing from his expertise, is responsible for the game's design. “While they are on the cycle ergometer for the exercise stress test, the children will be immersed in a beautiful game world. Their avatar is a little fox riding a bike through the air. In the distance, they see the fox’s friends who have been kidnapped by an evil professor. Players must help the little fox rescue its friends.”

The game links the real-world situation with the game world as much as possible. “For instance, the children will need to pedal slowly at first and then increase their pace gradually. This is reflected in the game. Based on the sensor data, we can gauge how intense the experience is for the child and we let the game respond positively to that.”

Springboard

Bakkes has good hope for the future: “I see this project as a springboard to a more positive and motivating hospital experience for young patients. I think playful interaction and games are an accessible way to create added value here. Not only for the hospital visit itself, but also when children prepare for the visit at home. Currently, leaflets are often used to prepare them. Wouldn't it be wonderful if children could look forward to playing a game at the hospital to keep them occupied with that prospect when still at home?”