A Cyber-Physical Recommender Systems to Discover SmartPhone Exergame Enjoyment (CyPReSS) Prof Emmanuel Agu Prof Mark Claypool Computer Science Dept. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

CyPRESS Problem: Physical inactivity leading cause of death in US: Causes obesity, increases risk of many ailments Many young adults get insufficient exercise Choose to use Internet, smartphone, social media, games)

Exergames Exergames may help increase physical activity in young people Definition: Exergames gamify physical activity Demonstrated efficacy in improving health (aerobic fitness, etc)

The Specific Problem Exergame engagement initially high, drops quickly 95% of all new exergamers stopped playing within 3 months 85% of new players stopped after one day! CyPRESS: cyber-physical smartphone-based recommender system Automatically detects waning user interest, recommends similar games

CyPRESS Overview Smartphone Game enjoyment inferred autonomously from player behaviors Excitement when playing (smartphone accelerometer, gyroscope) Game replay frequency (session statistics) Increased step count (indicates user engagement especially useful for pedometer games)

Cypress Objectives Actively monitoring player behaviors that indicate game enjoyment Learns types of game each player likes (autonomously using machine learning) Recommends similar games when player engagement drops