Authors:
Fairouz Grioui
and
Tanja Blascheck
Affiliation:
Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems, University of Stuttgart, Germany
Keyword(s):
Micro Visualization, Virtual Smartwatch, Heart Rate Visualization, Fitness Data, Empirical Study, Virtual Reality.
Abstract:
We investigate three visualizations showing heart rate (HR) and HR zones (HRZ) data collected over time and displayed on a virtual smartwatch, to monitor physical activity intensity. To understand exercise behavior, we first conducted a survey with 57 participants and found that most of them track their activities (66%) using wrist wearable devices (i. e., smartwatches or fitness bands) and that during the course of the exercise data is primarily represented as text or a combination of text and icon. To support reaching a specific fitness goal, we designed a bar chart visualization combining both current and historical HR and HRZ data. Among the three visualizations, two present an additional chart (i. e., a horizontal and radial bar chart summary), showing the amount of time spent per HRZ (i. e., low, moderate, and high intensity). In a controlled study performed in virtual reality, we compared participants’ performance with each visualization asking participants to make a quick and
accurate decision while exercising (i. e., playing a tennis-like game). Results from the study show evidence of a difference in task performance between visualizations with and without a summary chart—visualizations showing a summary chart performed better than the version without. Finally, based on our study results we present lessons learned.
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