Star Tag: A superhuman sport to promote physical activity

• Published in: 2019 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR) pp. 1826 - 1830
• Main Authors: Numan, Nels, Kolster, Ayla, Hoogerwerf, Niels, Kreynen, Bernd, Romeijnders, Jeanique, Huala, Tomas Heinsohn, Salamon, Nestor Z., Balint, J. Timothy, Lukosch, Stephan, Bidarra, Rafael
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.03.2019
• Subjects: Augmented reality; Energy states; Games; Human-centered computing; Interactive games; Mixed / augmented reality Human-centered computing; Navigation; Planets; Sports; User interface design Software and its engineering; User studies Human-centered computing
• ISSN: 2642-5254
• DOI: 10.1109/VR.2019.8797806

Superhuman sports (SHS) is a field where technological augmentations of human abilities and environment are combined to play a new and exciting sport. SHS make use of artificial senses or virtual reality to create a new experience that involves physical fitness and skills. Star Tag aims to combine these aspects with an engaging audience experience. This augmented reality game uses the Microsoft HoloLens, making it possible to move through a mixed reality space effectively. Star Tag is a competitive multiplayer game where players need to conquer all planets from their opponent to win the game. Players need to move around in a physical space from virtual planet to virtual planet in order to navigate the game-space and reach the planets. The audience is involved with the game via their phones, through which they can support the players. Through playtesting and conducting a survey, the results show that Star Tag is a superhuman sport that motivates people to be physically active.