A. Marcus (Ed.): DUXU/HCII 2013, Part II, LNCS 8013, pp. 568–576, 2013. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Interactive Rock Climbing Playground Equipment: Modeling through Service Mikiko Oono * , Koji Kitamura, Yoshifumi Nishida, and Yoichi Motomura National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan {mikiko-oono,k.kitamura,y.nishida,y.motomura}@aist.go.jp Abstract. Rock-climbing is a tool for investigating a full-body interaction. To design physical and psychological interaction with rock-climbing equipment, it is critical that scientific data on children’s interaction with the equipment be collected. We developed a rock-climbing wall with embedded sensors to record the physical behavior of children while playing on the wall. Over 1000 children participated in this study. With the aim of creating an evidenced-based interac- tion design of climbing, we formulated a climbing behavior model to see the relationship among influencing variables that describe climbing activities. Keywords: embedded sensor network, full-body interaction, children’s behavior model, playground equipment. 1 Introduction Physical activity is essential for all children to grow healthy [1]. According to the American College of Sports Medicine recommendation, children between the ages of 5 and 18 years old need to have 60 minutes of moderate to vigorously intense physical activity a day [2]. Rock-climbing has become a popular sport worldwide to get physi- cally active. The difficulty of a climb is determined based on a grading system devel- oped around the world [3]. Many studies on rock-climbing have researched on the relationship between physiological responses such as oxygen consumption, heart rate, blood pressure and the level of climbing difficulty [3], anthropometric factors [4], rock-climbing related injury [5]. From a human-interaction point of view, rock-climbing is a tool for investigating a full- body interaction. Sibella et al. gathered data on climbing movements using an optoelectron- ic system with six infrared cameras to research on common patterns and different climbing strategies in a group of recreational climbers [6]. Quaine and Martin conducted to study on the vertical and the horizontal force distribution on the holds and its distribution changes after a hold had been released based on the principles of Newtonian mechanics [7]. In the present study, we deal with the full-body interaction of children when they play with rock-climbing equipment. In this study, we focused on the following points: 1. Collect children’s climbing behavior data to develop a climbing model 2. Understand what influences children’s climbing behaviors * Corresponding author.