Avatar-based videos encourage women to lose weight

Watching an avatar, or a computer-generated figure, that performs weight-loss behaviors in a virtual community might help some women shed pounds in the real world, according to a new U.S. study released on Monday. "This pilot study showed that you don't have to be a gamer to use virtual reality to learn some important skills for weight loss, " Melissa Napolitano, an associate professor at the George Washington University, said in a statement. She added the findings, published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, suggest that "virtual reality could be a promising new tool for building healthier habits." Previous research had shown that using virtual reality to reinforce behavior could be effective, so Napolitano and her colleagues wanted to establish whether it could be used to help people lose weight. To find out, the team first conducted a survey among 128 overweight women. Most of them had tried to lose weight during the last year and the majority had never used a virtual reality game. Despite the fact that most of these women had no experience with the concept, the researchers found that 88 percent said they are willing to try it. Eight of the 128 women were then chosen for the study and allowed to pick avatars that they thought resembled their own skin color and shape. These participants came to Napolitano's clinic once a week and watched a 15-minute DVD featuring an avatar demonstrating healthy weight loss behaviors. In one lesson, for example, the women watched the avatar sitting down for dinner and learned about portion sizes. In another lesson, they watched an avatar walk with moderate intensity on a treadmill and learned the walking pace needed to help with weight loss goals. After four weeks of treatment, the women in this pilot study had lost an average of 3.5 pounds (about 1.6 kilograms), a fairly typical amount for traditional diet plans, Napolitano said. "This is just the first step to show that women, even those who are not gamers, are interested in an avatar-based technology to help them with a weight-loss plan," said Napolitano. "We are excited by the potential of this technology as a scalable tool to help people learn the skills to be successful at weight loss over the long run."