Developing a Dynamic Barrier Framework (DBF) for older adults’ engagement and attrition in immersive exergames

Abstract

Immersive exergames delivered through Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) can support older adults' health and well-being, yet sustained engagement remains difficult because many users discontinue soon after initial contact. Prior work has emphasized usability and short-term outcomes, but it provides limited process-level explanation of when attrition occurs, why barriers shift across usage stages, and how these shifts can be translated into design guidance. This thesis addresses this gap by identifying stage-specific barriers to attrition and by proposing the Dynamic Barrier Framework (DBF), a phase-sensitive explanatory framework for older adults' engagement with immersive exergames. The objectives were to identify and categorize key barriers across usage stages (RO1), integrate empirical findings into a phase-sensitive framework (RO2), and validate the framework through expert evaluation (RO3). The study adopted a multistage methodology combining two user experiments, framework construction, and expert validation. Experiment A (Initial contact, RO1) examined first-contact experiences and documented dropout timing and reasons in VR and MR conditions. Experiment B (Repeated Exposure, RO1) used a six-session repeated-exposure protocol to examine whether engagement-related performance and experience changed among participants who continued. Results showed substantial and stage-dependent attrition: 86 participants entered Experiment A, 70 completed it (81.4%), 40 proceeded to Experiment B (57.1% of Experiment A completers), and 35 completed all stages (40.7% overall). Dropout reasons progressed from physiological constraints during initial contact, to socio-psychological concerns at the decision-to-continue stage, and to motivational factors during repeated exposure. Based on these findings, the DBF conceptualizes attrition across Phase 1 Physical Adjustment, Phase 2 Developing Trust, and Phase 3 Maintaining Value and Interest. Expert validation supported the framework's content validity and practical relevance, indicating that the DBF contributes a novel staged account of attrition and offers actionable guidance for designing safer, more adaptive, and more sustainable immersive exergames for older adults.