Designable sports field: sport design by a human in accordance with the physical status of the player

Abstract

We present the Designable Sports Field (DSF), an environment where a "designer" designs a sports field in accordance with the physical intensity of the player. Sports motivate players to compete and interact with teammates. However, the rules are fixed; thus, people who lack experience or physical strength often do not enjoy playing. In addition, the levels of the players should preferably match. On the other hand, in coaching, a coach trains players according to their skills. However, to be a coach requires considerable experience and expertise. We present a DSF application system called SportComposer. In this system, the "designer" and "player," roles that can be assumed even by amateur players, participate in the sport to achieve different goals. The designer designs a sports field according to the physical status of the player, such as his/her heart rate, in real time. Thus, the player can play a physical game that matches his/her physical intensity. In experiments conducted under this environment, we tested the system with persons ranging from a small child to adults who are not expert in sports and confirmed that both the roles of the designer and the player are functional and enjoyable. We also report findings from a demonstration conducted with 92 participants in a public museum.