SixFeet Reimagined:An Interactive Exercise System to Support Sport Specific Training in Pandemic Times

COVID-19 impacted the way we live and experience sports. At various times during the pandemic, it was virtually impossible to meaningfully engage in team sports. In this paper, we present a system built on the basis of the existing SixFeet platform, a corona-safe, multi-player sports installation that enables its users to play sports at a safe social distance while interacting in a shared physical space. SixFeet consists of interactive LED stations that are equipped with proximity sensors that record the presence of a player. It uses this information to steer players along safe running paths on the playing field. We designed training exercises for SixFeet that embody relevant sport-specific skills. We did this in the context of field hockey. In a use study, we investigated the technical performance and user experience of SixFeet. Results show that participants kept a safe social distance; that SixFeet-exercises were significantly more enjoyable than ‘traditional’ corona-safe exercises and that SixFeet-enabled exercises better supported the training of sport-specific skills than ‘traditional’ corona-safe exercises. With this study, we show how a simple low-cost tool can be designed and implemented to support the training of sport-specific skills, especially in pandemic times.