Balancing Group Exergames in Virtual Reality: Fairness through Dynamic Difficulty Adaptation

Competitive exergaming is a promising way to encourage physical activity. However, in group exergames, differences in fitness can lead to anxiety, fear of failure, or frustration. Dynamic difficulty adaptation (DDA) might mitigate these effects. However, DDA might lead to overbalancing or diminishing self-efficacy. To investigate the effects of DDA, we designed an exergame based on focus group input. Our within-subject study with 14 participant pairs compares an adaptive and a non-adaptive version of our game. We show that perceived fairness was significantly higher in the adaptive game while perceived competence and motivation showed no differences. Finally, pair interviews revealed that the adaptive game fostered motivation by creating a close game.