Abstract—Fibromyalgia (FM) causes debilitating pain and muscular stiffness, amongst other symptoms, which can be eased over time through regular exercise. As FM patients have an abnormal perception of pain, adherence to exercise programmes can be difficult due to the pain experienced whilst exercising. Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to distract users from physical and mental pain and therefore may be utilized to increase adherence to exercise. This project involved the creation of a VR game using the HTC Vive, designed to induce exercise at a moderate intensity and distract Fibromyalgia patients from pain experienced whilst exercising. This game was tested using 8 participants who completed a questionnaire regarding the enjoyability of the game as well as the intensity of exercise whilst playing the game. All except two participants felt as if they had exercised at a moderate intensity or higher whilst playing the game, with the remaining two participants just under the threshold for moderate exercise. All participants enjoyed the game and all except one would play it again and spend money on this or similar games. The participant who would not play this or similar games again fell into the 65+ age range, supporting research which states that over 65s have little interest in gamified VR.
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