Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Aug 17, 2024
Date Accepted: Feb 17, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Feasibility and Usability of a Gamified AI Application to Enhance Physical Activity Among College Students: Quasi-Experimental Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and gamification in mobile health applications (apps) has the potential to enhance physical activity (PA) among college students. However, there is limited research on the combined impact of these technologies in promoting PA.
Objective:
Objective:
This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and usability of ShouTi Fitness, a gamified AI mobile health app, in enhancing PA among college students, and to assess its effectiveness in increasing PA levels over a 2-month intervention period.
Methods:
Methods:
A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 456 college students from 18 universities in Beijing, aged 18 to 25. Participants used the ShouTi Fitness app, which integrates AI-driven personalized recommendations and action recognition with gamification elements such as points and leaderboards. PA was monitored through app usage data over a 2-month intervention period. User satisfaction was measured using the System Usability Scale (SUS), and the effectiveness of the app was assessed through Spearman rank correlation analysis, Mann-Whitney tests, and other descriptive analyses.
Results:
Results:
Over the 2-month period, ShouTi Fitness recorded 18,073 online PA sessions. The app achieved a SUS score of 65.2. Users responded positively to personalized recommendations and gamification elements. A significant positive correlation was found between PA duration and intervention length (rho = 0.464, P < 0.001), though PA frequency declined after 35 days. Gender differences were observed in the frequency, duration, and timing of college students' use of ShouTi Fitness for PA.
Conclusions:
Conclusions:
This study provides pioneering evidence of the usability and effectiveness of ShouTi Fitness, an app that combines AI and gamification to improve PA among college students. The app effectively increased PA among college students, but maintaining long-term engagement remains a challenge. Future research should explore the long-term effects of such interventions and consider broader populations to further validate and refine the app’s effectiveness.
Citation
