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Abstract
From videogames to exergaming
published in July - August 2018 - in Il Fisioterapista - issue n.4
David Tacconi, Valentina D'Angeli

The term exergaming stems from the fusion of the words exercising and gaming and describes a technology that combines the strictly motor aspect of an exercise with that of a videogame. Since the 1980s, this concept began to attract researchers’ attention as a practice to help young and old to move more, taking advantage of the motivating and engaging aspect that videogames have increasingly brought to people’s lives. Many medical devices have recently been created for use in rehabilitation based on the principle of exergames, using optical or we- arable sensors: in these products the aspects of the patient’s involvement and motivation, together with precise rehabilitation skills, are now showing extremely positive results. This article traces the recent history of the exergames and then analyzes their use in rehabilitation.