PunchPulse: A Physically Demanding Virtual Reality Boxing Game Designed with, for and by Blind and Low-Vision Players
Sanchita S. Kamath, Omar Khan, Anurag Choudhary, Jan Meyerhoff-Liang, Soyoung Choi, JooYoung Seo · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility · doi:10.1145/3663547.3746365
Summary
This paper presents PunchPulse, an open-source VR boxing exergame designed through a seven-month participatory co-design process with blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals to promote sustained moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). BLV people experience significantly lower physical activity levels—53% identify as physically inactive compared to 27% of the general population—largely because most exercise tools rely on visual feedback. While previous accessible exergames have prioritized engagement and rhythm, PunchPulse uniquely targets physiological exertion through heart-rate-informed, structured intensity progression. Built on Unity for Meta Quest 2, the system uses a clock-based directional audio system ("Enemy at 3 o'clock, two steps away") combined with distance estimates, dynamic haptic feedback through controllers, high-contrast visuals, and audio-navigable menus to eliminate visual dependency. Boxing was chosen for its physical (cardiovascular, strength, coordination), cognitive (quick decision-making, spatial reasoning), and psychological (confidence, self-efficacy, stress reduction) benefits. The iterative design involved four phases: initial co-design with two BLV team members (August-December 2024), pilot testing with two external blind participants, reflective co-design with a third BLV co-designer (January-March 2025), and a user study with six additional BLV participants.
Key findings
All six user study participants reached moderate MVPA thresholds during gameplay, with five of six sustaining elevated heart rates across multiple rounds. The fixed three-round structure (each 10 minutes with escalating difficulty) reliably moved players into MVPA zones without requiring manual calibration, providing a universal pathway to meaningful exercise across participants with diverse fitness baselines and no prior VR experience. The mean System Usability Scale score was 78.3 (SD=12.5), well above the accepted usability benchmark of 68. Five interrelated themes emerged from thematic analysis: Physical Engagement and Immersion (participants framed physicality as part of the game's appeal, not its burden), Sensory Presence (audio and haptics created spatial maps independent of vision), Usability and Interaction Fluidity (participants appreciated the feedback loop but flagged micro-breakdowns under high intensity), Gamification (score became a signal of progress and psychological flow), and Exercise Motivation (the game was seen as more effective and engaging than typical routines). Notably, participants developed spontaneous orientation strategies, verbalizing clock directions and embedding rhythmic repetition into gameplay. The clock-based spatial cueing system was initially challenging—some participants punched in wrong directions—but most internalized it by the medium round. Prior physical activity influenced engagement trajectory more than prior VR experience, with more active participants showing sustained performance while less active ones exhibited steeper fatigue curves but still reached MVPA.
Relevance
PunchPulse demonstrates that accessible exergames need not sacrifice exercise intensity for usability. This is significant because most BLV-accessible fitness interventions emphasize light activity, leaving a critical gap in tools that support the moderate-to-vigorous intensity recommended by public health guidelines. The open-source release on GitHub supports reproducibility and community extension. For accessibility practitioners, key design insights include: time-based difficulty progression is more equitable than performance-based progression for users with varying abilities; structured round breaks serve as cognitive reset points that prevent fatigue accumulation; audio-haptic feedback layering (with audio cutting and dimming to manage concurrent cues) prevents sensory overload; and boundary management through physical markers (white canes on the floor) combined with audio warnings addresses VR safety for BLV users. The paper also highlights a critical hardware gap—Meta Quest 2 lacks screen reader support, open APIs for setup customization, and fine-grained tactile feedback, underscoring the need for VR platform manufacturers to build accessibility into their core infrastructure.
Tags: blind and low vision · virtual reality · exergames · physical activity · co-design · accessible gaming · haptic feedback · spatial audio