Xavix Testing Study

More than 83 percent of U.S. children age 8 to 18 have video game players in their bedrooms. At the same time, obesity rates continue to increase worldwide; sedentary activities such as seated game-playing may contribute.

The authors of the study looked at traditional seated games, as well as more active versions that simulate playing sports or moving through a city with more motion or floor pads. Testing was done with the XaviX J-Mat.

A team from the University of Hong Kong had children from ages 6 to 12 rest for 5 minutes, play a seated bowling game for 5 minutes, play an active bowling game for 5 minutes and then play an action game for five minutes.

The children burned 39 percent more calories playing a seated game than resting, nearly double the number of calories during the bowling game and more than 450 percent more during the action game.

The authors said that, based on typical calorie intakes, playing the active game for 35 minutes a day would help the average child maintain weight, rather than gaining.

Heart rates were also 20 beats per minute higher during the bowling game than rest, and 79 beats per minute higher during

Chicagoland based company Exergame Fitness is bringing their “FREE Exergaming Education Workshop” to Fishers, Indiana on Thursday August 14th 2008 at

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 26, 2008 – Chicagoland based company Exergame Fitness is bringing their “FREE Exergaming Education Workshop” to Fishers, Indiana on Thursday August 14th 2008 at Xtreme Fun & Fitness.

This FREE Exergaming Education Workshop is specifically targeted towards YMCA’s, JCC’s, Schools, Hospitals, Park Districts and Health Clubs around the Central and Eastern United States designed to provide “Fun, Realistic & Proven Solutions that battle Childhood Obesity”

This August the workshop will be held at Xtreme Fun and Fitness in Fishers, Indiana (XFF). XFF is owned and operated by CEO Judi Cooper and is currently Indiana’s premier Exergame facility which captures a true Exergaming experience complete with programming, design and a great marketing program designed to increase business and memberships.

Judi approached Motion Fitness with a lifelong goal of opening up a kids health, wellness & Exergaming center and brought in products that she believed would help her reach her vision and budget. With much success she has been successfully up and running, been on local news outlets and is turning Indiana’s kids into “Exer-gamers”!

We asked Judi about the success of her club & she adds:

“I can’t tell you enough how rewarding it feels to see inactive/overweight kids come into the facility, and watch them have a blast working out with continuous sweat pouring off their bodies. When it comes time to leaving, the parents have such a difficult time getting the kids to leave. Then to see them return the next day with a grin from ear to ear saying “we’re back” is very rewarding personally & professionally. Finally there is a concept that works and gets results concerning kid’s health.

When I first decided to open up this type of a facility I researched the different products and pricing for several weeks. I chose to partner with Motion Fitness for several reasons. They were very accessible and I was able to drive up for a day and try everything out first hand at their Exergaming facility in Palatine, Illinois. Since they are inside of a YMCA I really got too see the kids using the products which was fun. We also went over my business plan in detail. That really gave me a focused plan on how to make a successful decision based on my ideas and programming.

As hard as I tried to find an overall lower price on the pieces I wasn’t able to. They truly offer the best prices in the market and great post-sale services and programming. In the end, they gave me more than just a price; it was a personalized service that really focused on the success of my Exergaming club. That was a big reason why I decided to go with Motion Fitness.

After a meeting with them they provided me with a quote and layout for my facility. Then I was all set to open my new location. Our working relationship quickly became more of a partnership. I was new to the Exergaming industry and they shared a lot of marketing ideas with me, knowledge, training…really offered their support and help in any way I needed it in order to see me succeed. They have been absolutely wonderful to work with.
Exergaming is a fairly new concept that I know will really take off as we spread the word and get more people involved with Exergaming. My club has been picking up in business each month as the word gets out. Some have a fairly good idea of what it’s all about, but it really hits home with them once they come in and try out the gaming pieces. I hear “WOW, this place is awesome…what a great concept. You will do very well here and you should consider turning this into a franchise.”

I believe we have an opportunity to make a positive difference in those that will be our future leaders, so we need to step up to the plate and make a commitment to work with kids/youth in lowering the obesity rate, which will in turn lower our healthcare cost.”

Motion Fitness is the world’s largest distributor & supplier of Exergaming fitness products including having over 6 International Distributors who are gaining momentum. Motion Fitness regularly holds Exergaming Education Workshops at their Palatine, Illinois headquarters located inside the Buehler YMCA which houses over 18,000+ members. Motion Fitness displays the industries top Exergaming products inside of the YMCA that can be used by any workshop attendees. Using the YMCA as their testing and research facility Motion can test new products, hold Exergaming workshops and give live demonstrations of the industry’s up and coming Exergaming products.

Ed Kasanders, CEO of Motion Fitness added:

“Our Exergaming Education Workshops offer an ideal showcase for participants because they offer hands on experience by using the industry leading products that battle obesity.

Computer based games have proven to be successful in many applications. Simply put, kids want to be entertained; they love playing games and in general do not like traditional exercise.
Our workshops have been well attended in the past and we look forward to bringing more people from the central and eastern region to this workshop to learn about this great tool to battle obesity.”


Exergaming Education Workshop Includes:
Grant & Funding Assistance
Hands-On Product Training & Testing
Health and Benefits Training
Program Curriculums for Kids, Teens, Adults. Special Needs and Seniors
Exergame Marketing Ideas and Support
Finance & Leasing Information
Return on Investment

Guest Speakers Attending:
Ed Kasanders – Motion Fitness
Gus Condezo – New Vision Leasing
Marian Shaw – Makoto USA
Gary Florindo – Lightspace
Carlos Aviles – Skywall
Phil Lawler – PE4Life

Products You Can Test!:
Lightspace Play
Exerbike
Hoggan Sprint Circuit
Dance Dance Revolution
Dancetown DDR
Cybex Trazer
Makoto Sports Arena
Xavix
Sportwall

Guest Hotel Information:
Residence Inn
9765 Crosspoint Blvd
Fishers, IN. 46038
Phone: 317-842-1111
Discounted Rate of $119 plus tax

To register for this FREE workshop, please visit the Exergaming Education Registration Page here or call 847.963.8969 x1103

Exergame Fitness is the world’s largest distributor & supplier of Exergame fitness products to YMCA’s, Schools, JCC’s, Park Districts, Health Clubs, Hospitals, Kid Zones, Family Entertainment Centers, Casinos, Government/VA and more. Exergame Fitness provides Facility Planning & Installation, Grant & Funding Assistance, Program Design & Product Training, Turnkey Marketing Support, Free Layout Designs & Concepts, Detailed Programming Curriculums, Finance & Lease Options and more. Exergame Fitness offers the lowest prices on any of the products they carry backed by a 110% Lowest Price Guarantee.

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UC San Diego Researchers Examine Health Benefits of Video Games & Game Technologies

Date: May 29, 2008

Grant Funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Tennis, boxing and bowling, all while playing video games? Could video games that require players to get up and move, also known as “exergames,” increase physical activity among users? That’s one of the questions researchers from University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) School of Medicine want to answer.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded the UC San Diego Department of Family and Preventive Medicine a $198,000 grant to explore how interactive digital games could be designed to improve player health behaviors and outcomes. UC San Diego joins 11 other research teams supported in this first round of funding from Health Games Research, an RWJF national program established to support innovative research into the development and use of games to achieve desirable health outcomes.

SSD/XaviX, a Japanese technology company, whose US branch is located in San Diego, will provide UC San Diego researchers with the equipment. Adolescents, aged 11 to 15, will participate in studies designed to identify factors in exergames that motivate young people to play them. The researchers also will investigate how the social interactions that take place during game play influence health behavior change.

“We want to know what aspects about exergames, under what conditions, can capture an adolescent’s attention, particularly in an environment where there are a lot of alternative sedentary things to do such as watch TV, play non-active video games or sit at the computer,” says Gregory Norman, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and the principal investigator in this research. “Working with XaviX on this research will give us an opportunity to determine what psychological factors need to be included in exergames to motivate and sustain adolescent physical activity levels.”

Health Games Research is headquartered at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The program is directed by Debra Lieberman, Ph.D., communication researcher in the university’s Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research; lecturer in the Department of Communication; and a leading expert in the research and design of interactive media for learning and health behavior change. Health Games Research is funded by an $8.25 million grant from RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio, which supports innovative projects that may lead to breakthrough improvements in the future of health and health care.

“This groundbreaking study led by UC San Diego will identify new interactive behavioral health strategies to use in the design of future health games and technologies,” Lieberman said. “Together, the 12 studies funded in this round will help us better understand how people respond to various types of health games, and this will potentially lead to new game-based applications that can more effectively engage and motivate players to improve their health.”

The 12 grantees were selected from 112 research organizations that applied for Health Games Research funding during the first funding call, which focused on games that engage players in physical activity and/or games that promote and improve players’ self-care. In January 2009, Health Games Research will issue its next call for proposals, awarding up to an additional $2 million in grants.

As UC San Diego and the other grantees conduct their studies, Health Games Research will provide them with ongoing assistance and research resources.

“We are excited to be working with UC San Diego on this project, as it is well aligned with our company’s mission to encourage everyone to take charge of their health by being more active in their daily lives. What is most exciting is that they will also measure social activity and its influence on health behavior change,” said Peter Newman, General Manager, SSD/XaviX.

About UC San Diego School of Medicine

UC San Diego is one of only five research universities to have both a medical school and engineering school ranked in the top 15 by U.S. News and World Report (March 2006). The UC San Diego School of Medicine ranked 14^th overall, and 5^th among public research-focused medical schools in this year’s U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” ranking.

About XaviX

XaviX® multiprocessor chip is the core technology behind SSD Company Limited. The XaviX processor is the heart of the XaviX System and provides the foundation for a variety of products like interactive sports, fitness, education and music. SSD was founded in Japan in 1995 with a vision of bringing innovative products to improve health and well-being into the world. For more information, visit http://www.exergamefitness.com/xavix_power_boxing.htm

About Health Games Research

Health Games Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio, supports research to enhance the quality and impact of interactive games used to improve health. Its grantees conduct outstanding, innovative, theory-grounded research aimed at discovering effective principles of health game design. For more information, visit http://www.healthgamesresearch.org/ or contact them at healthgamesresearch@isber.ucsb.edu.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. The Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio supports innovative ideas and projects that may trigger important breakthroughs in health and health care. Projects in the Pioneer Portfolio are future-oriented and look beyond conventional thinking to explore solutions at the cutting edge of health and health care. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org/pioneer.

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Media Contact: Kim Edwards, 619-543-6163, kedwards@ucsd.edu