MoFun Circus - health and mobility for video game set

Heureka favourite combines computer and group exercise

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By Riitta Koivuranta
     
     What kind of a computer game is not at all taxing on the buttocks, but can cause shortness of breath and perspiration, which is actually the desired result?
     Playing it requires a friend whose hand one can hold, a little bit of observational skills, and quick feet.
     It certainly sounds different.
     
The circus game known as MoFun Circus made its first appearance at the Finnish Science Centre Heureka in Vantaa in 2006, and is currently one of its most popular games. Nothing like it exists in other large science centres.
     MoFun Circus is a group exercise game played in front of a gigantic video display.
     The players move back and forth on a game platform that is more than five meres wide, trying to make as large and as round a circle as possible. The parameters of the circle are determined by the size of a safety net on the screen between two clowns.
     
The task of the players is to catch objects, such as bananas dropped by apes, in the clowns' net. The movements of the clowns in synchronised with that of the players.
     "The most important in this is the joy of exercising together. The feedback from the game in the form of points encourages people to exercise more, and the sense of success grows progressively", explains Petri Ruikka, one of those responsible for the technical implementation of the game.
     
The prime mover of the idea of the circus game was dancer Janne Talasma, who began to think about ways to get children and teenagers sitting in front of computer games to get up and exercise together.
     The first initial version of a group exercise game that would combine a computer with exercise came about with the help of new media professional Marjuska Kaukomies.
     "We see the possibilities of the game as being very broad. This is a product of the future", Kaukomies says.
     In a gaming culture that is constantly changing, MoFun Circus is one of the active games for fun and pleasure, where the motivation to exercise is combined with the sharing of information, everyday life, social contacts and entertainment, storytelling, or games.
     It is an excellent alternative to hours of computer, console, and online gaming which often takes place alone. The circus game also allows those with physical disabilities to play according to their ability.
     
Another important target group is those with mental disabilities, who often do not get enough exercise.
     The game could make it a much easier task to inspire them to exercise. The game would just have to be developed so that it could be geared to correspond to their ability level.
     The MoFun project is an example of product development based on the experience of the players and their hopes.
     According to the designers, on the basis of the results and experiences of testing the game on users, exercise gaming would appear to inspire people of all ages and physical capacities.
      "It is interesting to start developing more complicated games, as the linkage of new characteristics with an application could be technically easy, but challenging from the point of view of the capacity to play", says Ruikka.
     
Talasma's original idea was to develop a game on the idea of dance. The vision of a version adapted to dance still lives. The notebooks of the production team are bulging with new ideas for games, but the implementation of the plan requires financing. The exact details of financing will become known in early May.
     "The next step is to develop the concept further. The application would be the same, and the games would be developed on its foundation for different target groups, taking abilities and needs, or the theme into consideration", Kaukomies says.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 4.5.2008


Links:
  MoFun Circus - description
  Finnish Science Centre Heureka

RIITTA KOIVURANTA / Helsingin Sanomat
riitta.koivuranta@hs.fi