Augmented Dodgeball:
An Approach to Designing Augmented Sports
Takuya Nojima
Ngoc Phuong
Takahiro Kai
Toshiki Sato
Grad. School of Information Systems, University of Electro-Communications
1-5-1, Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo, Japantnojima@nojilab.org, shin.phuong@vogue.is.uec.ac.jp, kai@vogue.is.uec.ac.jp,
den@vogue.is.uec.ac.jp
ABSTRACT

Hideki Koike
Tokyo Institute ofTechnology
koike@vogue.tite
ch.ac.jp

research group aims to add various digital elements that areused in video games into traditional sports, to make such
sports more enjoyable and exciting. We specificallyinvestigated the augmentation of dodgeball.

Ubiquitous computing offers enhanced interactive, humancentric experiences including sporting and fitness-basedapplications. To enhance this experience further, weconsider augmenting dodgeball by adding digital elements
to a traditional ball game. To achieve this, an understandingof the game mechanics with participating movable bodies,is required. This paper discusses the design process of aball–player-centric interface that uses live data acquisition
during gameplay for augmented dodgeball, which ispresented as an application of augmented sports. Initial
prototype testing shows that player detection can beachieved using a low-energy wireless sensor based network
such as that used with fitness sensors, and a ball with anembedded sensor together with proximity tagging.

Dodgeball is played as a team sport in several countries,
each of which has its own locally modified rules.
Commonly practiced in primary and secondary schools as aform of physical education, it is one of the very few sports
in which competing players aim to attack other players
rather than inanimate objects, thereby inducing criticalthinking, and strategic and competitive behavior early in theeducation system.

Author Keywords

Augmented Sports; Dodgeball; Ball Interface; Proximitybased Interfaces; Design; Prototyping; Gaming.
ACM Classification Keywords

H.5.2. Information interfaces and presentation: UserInterfaces: Prototyping
INTRODUCTION

Ubiquitous computing, particularly that applied in the fieldof sports, has become a huge part of human–computerinteraction (HCI) research. The development of ubiquitousinterfaces, and their intimate link with human movement
has contributed greatly to the progress in tangible andembodied interaction. In sport, technology benefits allstakeholders including spectators and the general public [1],coaches and governing bodies [9, 6], and athletes [16].

Figure 1: Augmented dodgeball preliminary design.
By adopting the approach of augmenting dodgeball as aninteractive sport entertainment system, as illustrated in
Figure 1, we aim to achieve the following:Augmented sports are emerging sports that are derived froma fusion of digital technology and traditional sports. Our
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Relationship between player and game mechanics
Players within the activity are aware of virtual‘parameters’ used in the augmented activity. One ofthe typical example is ‘hit points’, which is often
illustrated as progress bars shown in Figure 1. Each
player’s hit points are depleted depending on the forceof impact when the player is struck. As the ball is themain object in the game mechanics, the idea of aplayer–ball relationship is explored.
Game balancing depending on player skill using
virtual parametersPlayers that have difficulty throwing can do more‘damage’ whereas players that have difficulty dodging
can have more ‘hit points’.

similar project is Izuta’s Bouncing Star [10], using special
effects and projection mapping for entertainment. The
position of the ball is tracked and given appropriate
feedback in an immersive environment. Ichikawa et al.
developed a ball which could altering its flight path using
gas propulsion as a means of game balancing and adding
extra challenges [8,12]. HoverBall is the flight pathcontrollable ball by using quadcopter technology to adoptimaginary dynamics to ball sports [11]. Earthlings Attacks!
by Takahashi et al. [19] introduced human bodycommunication using balls coming into contact with thehuman body as a form of strike recognition without the useof a camera. Our system allows for relatively freemovement between the ball and the player, as well as player
recognition without requiring actual contact or a camera.

Introduction of game design elements
The measurement of movements that exist in the sport(throwing, dodging, and catching) can be applied togame-centric mechanics (damage, health, and defense).

For such interaction, a means to obtain contextual
information during live play is required. The detection of
events such as player hits, catches, and floor contact are
useful for this. By obtaining real-time quantitative datafrom the ball and players using sensors during live play, wecan determine various aspects of the ball such as impact
detection and force, closest player, throwing speed, ballspin, and so on. With this information, it is possible toautomate the decision process in dodgeball. In the future, itwill be possible to apply these concepts to various othersports thereby contributing to sport augmentation.

Proximity-based Interfaces and Gaming

User identification by means of proximity is a commonlyused method in mobile computing. To achieve a closerange solution, radio-frequency (RF) tagging is often used.
TagURIt [2] implements a digital game of tag using onbody displays. It promotes both contact and non-contact
player detection using RF signals with the assistance of acamera. Mueller et al. proposed using the interpersonal
distance between players, as a novel design resource for
digital games [15]. Proximity triggered multi-playerinteraction has also been proposed [5] as a means to explore
physical environments with movable objects using handheld devices and short-range sensors for rich spatial
interaction. Using a similar method with the notion of theball in play acting as a movable object, we are able to detect
nearby players from the perspective of the ball for theapplication of gameplay semantics.

In this paper, we first introduce related work in the area of
fitness-based interfaces and proximity-based gaming. We
then discuss the design process for dodgeball augmentation
describing the design goals and prototype implementation,
focusing especially on the aspect of ball–player interaction.
We then present our interim results and design implications
for future work, concluding with a summary.
RELATED WORKThis section first considers one of the many perspectives indesigning augmented sports, that is, gaming that requires
the investment of physical effort. Thereafter, ball-basedinterfaces, followed by proximity-based games using user
and object identification, are introduced.

DESIGN PROCESSExergaming and Exertion Interfaces

As dictated by Hummels, design should be led by activeparticipation and experience that allows for appropriate
contextual understanding of movement-based activities [7].
Obtaining quantitative information from an interface can becomplemented further with contextual application andreasoning; we attempt to achieve this through the design
process. Pilot research was initiated through participation instandard dodgeball games as well as live observation oflocal amateur competitions to determine the design goals.
In a standard game, players who are struck by a ball thrownby a player of the opposing team are eliminated. However,in the Japanese variation of dodgeball, these players
continue playing by acting as a ‘flanking’ party, attacking
from the rear boundary of the opposing team. Through thisteam balancing mechanism, dodgeball becomes a morestrategically challenging team-based activity. We set out to
use the Japanese variation of dodgeball as our base.

Exergaming and exertion interfaces are designed around thedeliberate requirement of intensive physical effort [17]under the umbrella of commercial gaming systems (e.g.,Wii, Kinect, and Dance Dance Revolution). Long-distancefitness interfaces such as Sports over a Distance [13] havedemonstrated that social interaction can be further enhancedwith physical exertion. Such interfaces provide a tighter
connection between players and the game mechanics,resulting in higher motivation and involvement [3,14]. We
build on an already strong foundation using a traditional
sport; however, since players are also aware of the exertionand its effect on the game mechanics, much more attractive
gameplay can be introduced.
Ball-based and Throwable Interfaces

To date, several throwable interfaces promoting active
fitness using sport-based technology have been developed.
One of these is Shootball [18] where a player throws a ballsensor at a wall to gain points. The system uses a camera to
detect the location of the ball strike, but does not create a
relationship between the ball and the player. AnotherCasual and Competitive Game Observations

Players in casual dodgeball games were interviewed andseveral comments were made concerning physical anddigital game design aspects. All players verbally confirmed138

that they experienced “a workout” during a dodgeball gameand mentioned that it would be ideal to be able tosupplement various skill levels owing to different levels offitness, especially for children. Player information, such as“player A hits player B with force C” was also suggested torepresent real-time events similar to those in video gaming.
We also attended local elementary school dodgeball
tournaments to observe gaming behaviors. One clear
observation was the movement tactics to avoid flanking
attacks with respect to the ball’s position. Players would
actively create a distance between the ball in the opponent’spossession to allow for adequate time to dodge, whileadvanced players would group together in a line to optimize
the chance of catching the ball and prevent flanking players
from retrieving it. Moreover, the need for referees toresolve ‘out’ and ‘boundary’ decisions was seen to beparamount (6 referees were required for a 12-versus-12match), although the strict decision process directly affects
the active flow of the game owing to frequent time-outs.

Figure 3: Simple architectural overview of the system.
Wireless Channel Separation

The decision to separate the information channels between
Player and Ball, and Ball and Controller was deemed to be
an important factor in the design as the requirements foreach relationship differ substantially. The ball device acts
as a master node that communicates with the currently
detected player (from a scalable number of max players
limited only by the computational power). Our proposed
player detection method uses a solution based on a wirelesssensor protocol, ANT+ [4], to establish a 1:N relationshipbetween the ball and players. ANT+, which provides thebase protocol for wireless sensor networks, was considered
a good candidate for ball–player interaction because of its
relevance to human-centric fitness. The ball emits aperiodic beacon every 10 ms in search of player tags, which
once in range, respond accordingly with player information.
For real-time feedback and data acquisition, the prototype
was fitted with an XBee wireless communication module toallow sending event-based data to a host computer. The ballinformation can be determined either by streaming realtime data to the host for concurrent analysis, or using
deterministic methods on the microcontroller. It is possible
for our system to do both within certain limitations,depending on the application scenario.

Research Aim

From our observations of live dodgeball games, we focusedon ascertaining which gameplay elements could benefit
from technology. In the context of a dodgeball application,
we determined that (1) situational awareness of ball motion,and (2) player possession are key factors in the decision
process determining these elements. Real-time computerassisted event detection (strikes, catches) would then be
required to establish augmented dodgeball.

Prototype Application

Figure 2: Ball system hardware prototypes. The innercore of the ball (top left), embedded into the ball case
(top center), and the constructed prototype (top right).
Visualization of the ball sensor during impact (bottom).

We concentrated on investigating player recognition andbound-detection as an interim goal to detect ball–player
collisions. By implementing sound events on activity
detection, as well as player proximity detection, a test
application for automated dodgeball was developed (Figure4). Players accumulated “damage” based on the impact
force (determined by an accelerometer) and thisinformation would be displayed on an external screen toshow the players’ remaining life, as well as the currently
detected player.

Prototyping

The prototype ball was designed to be a modified soft,commercial sponge ball (Molten STS21). The internalmechanism is installed in a hollow crevice cut out of theball core to act as a wireless “brain”. Embedded sensors
such as inertial (ADXL345 & ITG3200) and vibration
sensors, as well as wireless transmission modules (ANT+AP2 & XBee) are controlled by the core micro-controller(mbed LPC1768) powered by a 9V battery (Figure 2). The
system modules are separated into two channels ofcommunication: one represents the ball–player interaction;
the other handles communication between the ball and ahost computer, for event handling and application logic, asillustrated in Figure 3.

INTERIM DISCUSSION AND FUTURE WORK

Using a design approach to sports augmentation, we
obtained an understanding of the elements of dodgeball andproposed an enhanced gameplay by means of computerassisted detection. Beneficial aspects of our prototype canbe exploited in future iterations in terms of detection, ball
activity and gameplay design with proper user studies.

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The use of scalable wireless networks offers both the gamecontroller and player access to quantitative information thatcan be used for augmentation. With the current generation
prototype, players can be detected by the incoming ball up
to a distance of 10–30 cm. Although player information iscurrently limited to IDs only, there is the possibility ofincorporating other player-sensitive data such as heartbeat,caloric measurements, and movement.

3.Consolvo, S., Everitt, K., Smith, I. and Landay, J. A.
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Wireless channel separation allows both player and ballinformation to be handled without any latency limitations.
This can also be seen as a method for abstracting the gamelogic into a ball and player tag system without the need foran external system. Given that this research is still in its
infancy, the current proof-of-concept provides a strong
foundation
forrule-automation
andsubsequentaugmentation for various augmented sports in the future.

6.Hawk-Eye. http://www.hawkeyeinnovations.co.uk/.
Accessed: 16-02-2015.
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get moved: a search for methods, tools and knowledge todesign for expressive and rich movement-basedinteraction. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 11(8),(2007), 677–690.
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Figure 4: Player detection using low power wireless networks.
Player 1 throws the ball (top). Once out of range of bothplayers, the player indicator displays zero (middle). When thePlayer 2 holds a ball, the indicator displays two (bottom).

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CONCLUSION

This paper presented an overview of designing anaugmented sport by initially augmenting the game ofdodgeball. By offering a ball–player-centric approach tointeraction, it described the design of a proof-of-concept
process of seamlessly integrating technology into sport forenhanced embodied interaction through physical activity.
This design approach has proved to be an attractive, novel
approach to human fitness and interaction. By adopting thisapproach, quantitative data from moving bodies within anactivity can be used to enhance the activity intrinsically,
and create a much greater embodied experience.

15.Mueller, F., Stellmach, S., Greenberg, S., et al.
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digital play experiences. In Proc. DIS, (2014), 533–542.
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Accessed: 16-02-2015.
17.Sinclair, J., Hingston, P. and Masek, M. Considerations
for the design of exergames. In Proc. GRAPHITE, (2007),
289-295.

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