Tech firm aims to use video games to get people exercising

SINGAPORE — She raised her left hand up above her head, clenched her fist, and brought it down quickly to her shoulders, before repeating the same action with her other hand. Then she twisted her body left, then right, before jumping to grab at thin air.

It was an odd sight from afar, but Miss Earth Singapore Tiara Hadi was actually playing a rock-climbing video game on an Xbox Kinect console during the Singapore Active Gaming (SAG) media launch on Thursday.

The best part? She was also getting a physical workout from the dynamic movements that the game required her to perform.

This concept of getting people to be physically active through video games is what social commerce platform SAUCEink hopes to promote through the SAG event it is organising on Aug 6 at The Promontory at Marina Bay.

The initiative is part of ActiveSG’s Active Enabler Programme — a subset of Sport Singapore’s GetActive! campaign — which provides funding for ground-up proposals that encourage Singaporeans to lead active lifestyles.

The SAG is supported by Xbox, who is sponsoring the consoles to be used during the event, and participants will compete in the Kinect rock-climbing game for prizes. There are also stations for casual gamers to try out the activity.

“The whole idea is to get people who need the exercise to play video games that require them to be physically active,” SAUCEink co-founder Melissa Fann told TODAY at the event’s media launch.

“Active gaming requires you to do movements such as jumping and moving your arms or legs quickly. All these can get very tiring so what you get is a workout that is fun but also gets people sweating.

“We hope to pique people’s interest in these sort of games and get them to keep active at home if they’re too busy to exercise outside. Hopefully, avid gamers will also take to this and break the stereotype that they only sit in front of their computers all day.”

Eugene Sia, manager of local eSports team Insidious Gaming (iSG), believes this could be an effective way of encouraging an active lifestyle among gamers, especially if there is a structured and competitive element to it. “Such games definitely do help us get active and interested in sports,” said Sia, 28.

“However, this (concept) will still need a bit of pushing because I don’t think people will buy an Xbox just to play such sports games. But if there is a structured programme, with competitions and lucrative prizes, then it could be really effective.”

To sign up for SAG, visit www.singaporeactivegaming.com. For more information about GetActive! Singapore, visit www.getactive.sg. NOAH TAN