Gamification of Heel Raise Plantarflexion Physiotherapy

Abstract

When it comes to rehabilitation and exercise, motivation can be a serious issue for older adults. Gamification is a trending concept that has been increasingly successful when it comes to encouraging certain user behaviors. Gamification makes use of game elements to engage and invoke desired behaviors in users. The heel raise exercise, otherwise known as calf raises, is a fundamental exercise that involves standing on toes and raising the heels. This work aims to expand on the development of a custom measurement device for heel raise physiotherapy that uses the concept of gamification to promote and motivate users to participate in heel raise exercises. The proposed solution is a game where players control an avatar to jump onto platforms by executing heel raises. In preliminary studies, the game has been evaluated to have some positive effects on older adults, such as increased motivation and the tendency to perform more repetitions of the exercise.