Development of an Exergame on Mobile Phones to Increase Physical Activity for Adults with Severe Mental Illness

Maintaining a certain level of Physical Activity (PA) is important to prevent some chronic pathologies. This is even more important for individuals with severe mental health problems, but they have many barriers that make it very difficult for them to be physically active, including lack of motivation. In this paper, we propose an exergame that aims to help these people integrate PA into their daily lives. This exergame is designed on a smartphone in order to be able to follow the level of activity of the player on a daily basis. It offers game mechanics that allow the player to manage their PA. However, it encourages them to be physically active so that they can progress more easily in the game. The application uses an activity detection algorithm to measure the level of PA. We offer a preliminary study on healthy subjects on a demo version of the game that observes their gaming experience. The results show that the mechanics are globally appreciated and that the game allows each player to manage his PA as he wishes.