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Researchers at University of Tsukuba have discovered that projecting a "moving pacemaker" onto the entire floor of a gymnasium at a pace appropriate for adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder, while exercising can improve their understanding of routes and running pace. This finding points to new possibilities for exercise support that are tailored to cognitive characteristics.

Tsukuba, Japan—The shuttle run (a round-trip endurance run) test measures physical fitness by having subjects run back and forth for a certain distance. This test has been adopted as part of a new physical fitness test formulated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and it is conducted in many schools as part of physical fitness training. However, for students with neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorder), understanding and executing tasks such as "how far to run," "when to turn around," and "how to maintain their pace" can be challenging, leading to difficulties in performing the test effectively.

This research group has conducted a series of studies in FUTUREGYM to verify the possibility of educational support by projecting large-scale images on the gymnasium floor at Otsuka Special Needs School, which is attached to the University of Tsukuba. The researchers examined methodologies that could help students understand the course and running pace needed. Specifically, they compared the effectiveness of two methods: a simple type where the pacemaker is projected onto the floor at a constant speed and an interactive type where the pacemaker is projected relative to the students' positions.

A total of 24 junior-high and high-school students participated in the study. The researchers compared their running patterns with and without the use of each pacer. The results demonstrated that the simple type was more effective for high school students, whereas the interactive type helped middle school students better understand the running pace and improve their performance.

These findings imply that personalized support based on individual cognitive traits is crucial for helping people with neurodevelopmental disorders engage in physical activities in an enjoyable, safe, and fulfilling manner.

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This research was partially funded by grants from the JST-CREST-Social Imaging (No. JPMJCR14E2) and Social Signals(No. JPMJCR19A2) project.

Original Paper

Title of original paper:

Supporting wayfinding behavior in shuttle run activities by floor projected pacemakers in a special-needs school gymnasium

Journal:

International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction

DOI:

10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100748

Correspondence

Visiting Researcher OKI Mika
Center for Cybernics Research, University of Tsukuba

ISHITOBI Ryoichi
Teacher, Otsuka Special Needs School, University of Tsukuba

Related Link

Center for Cybernics Research
Special Needs Education School for the Mentally Challenged