Abstract
Prior research has demonstrated that exercise is more fun and engaging when we exercise with others. Yet for many people, it is challenging to exercise with partners that are co-present due to several reasons (e.g. lack of access to a partner). In this thesis, I explore the challenge of designing an exercise system that effectively embodies a remote participant. The result of my exploration is HappyFeet, a dancing system that supports the dancing experience for remotely located partners. HappyFeet uses 3D representations of dancers’ feet in a shared virtual dance space to emphasize timing and placement of feet. My work demonstrates that the feet embodiment provides the dancers with a better understanding of dance moves, helps them to synchronize timing of their dance steps, and provides them with a dance space in which they can freely create dance moves with their partners.
