Effects of Game-Setting on Wrist Motion and Muscle Fatigue

Abstract

Playing on-line games is one of the popular entertainments in the world. Players often need to respond to the tasks required in the game by moving the mouse as fast as possible and clicking the button on the mouse at the precise place on the screen. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of duration of playing time associated with the mode of the difficulty of the game on wrist motion and physical fatigue. Ten college students were participated in the experiment. Four combinations of experiments were tested: 2 durations (60/90 minutes) and 2 modes (difficult/easy) of the game. EMG median frequency was measured to determine the degree of fatigue of the muscles used. The positions of wrist in radial/ulnar plane were recorded using electrogoniometer. A subjective evaluation was used to measure the discomfort in wrist, arm, shoulder and neck after the experiment. The result showed that most of the time the wrist position was below 15 degrees in both radial and ulnar plane. The clicking number of left button of the mouse and the total distance of cursor moved were statistically significant between the game modes. There was statistically significant difference for change in median frequency in the difficult mode in extensor digitorum communis (EDC).

Keywords: Wrist Motion, Muscle Fatigue

DOI: 10.54941/10040