PAIGE: Pelvic floor activation through gamified exercising

Ageing, pregnancies and childbirth cause pelvic floor muscle dysfunctions, that lead to a significant number of women suffering from urinary incontinence (in mild cases) up to uterine prolapses (in the extreme cases). Exercising the pelvic floor muscles (a.k.a. Kegel exercises) would effectively prevent and treat the problem, but many women do not do them because of a combination of poor education, lack of fun, and cultural inhibitions. To change this situation we will exploit a wearable and wirelessly connectable vaginal pressure sensor developed in New Zealand, and create a game that transforms performing Kegel exercises into an engaging and compelling experience. The game will thus include both dedicated gamification mechanisms and medical-oriented user feedback schemes for increasing the intrinsic motivations of the users. Hence, our system will encourage women to maintain proper exercising levels for long-term benefits, and indirectly help society overcome cultural inhibitions by exposition to these topics.