Actuating Myself: Designing Hand-Games Incorporating Electrical Muscle Stimulation

Motor movements are performed while playing hand-games such as Rock-paper-scissors or Thumb-war. These games are believed to benefit both physical and mental health and are considered cultural assets. Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is a technology that can actuate muscles, triggering motor movements and hence offers an opportunity for novel play experiences based on these traditional hand-games. However, there is only limited understanding of the design of EMS games. We present the design and evaluation of two games inspired by traditional hand-games, ”Slap-me-if-you-can” and ”3-4-5”, which incorporate EMS and can be played alone, unlike traditional games. A thematic analysis of the data collected revealed three themes: 1) Gameplay experiences and influence of EMS hardware, 2) Interaction with EMS and the calibration process and, 3) Shared control and its effect on playing EMS games. We hope that an enhanced understanding of the potential of EMS to support hand-games can aid the advancement of movement-based games as a whole.