Purpose – Cognitive self-rehabilitation lacks updated means and tools. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of cognitively simulating mobile games on the cognitive skills and recreation of older people with memory impairment. Design/methodology/approach – Mobile games that require cognitive skills were developed. The games were tested by memory-impaired older adults, average age of 90. Gaming interventions took place for three months on a daily basis. Game outcomes were automatically recorded and user feedback was collected by interviews. The progress of the testees was also evaluated by means of Trial Making Test A. Findings – Improvement in game scores was found. Other significant effects of game play were enhanced recreation and self-managed activity level. Game play did not have any effect on the traditional Trail Making Test results but the results of the Trail Making game showed improvement. The Trail Making game also showed a large variance in daily scores, which implies that performing just a single Trail Making Test might lead to misreading a person's condition. Research limitations/implications – The results are an encouragement for conducting further testing (on a larger test group, over a longer time) and continuing with game development for cognitively impaired older adults. A similar game trial will also be arranged for a younger population with better overall health condition. Practical implications – New business opportunities are also possible in game development and gaming services. Social implications – Games have the potential for self-rehabilitation and to support extending independent living at home. Originality/value – The paper provides a synopsis of novel cognitive recreation tools, an analysis of their effect and user feedback from professional staff as well as potential new ideas for game developers.
Childhood obesity and physical inactivity are well-known problems which are typically related with videogames. The goal of this study is to develop digital games which motivate children and adolescents to exercise more, instead. The games are realized in such way that no special game consoles are required. The games can be played with a regular computer while mobile phones and heart rate monitors are used as the game controllers. Thus the games can also be played from a public screen in schools, for example, thus offering new exercising possibilities among youngsters. In this study, two exercising games (exergames) are presented and their ability to motivate youngsters is examined by group studies. The results indicate that the developed exergames are suitable in school environment. It is concluded that the games were found engaging and they motivated players to exercise. This indicates a positive effect of exergames in prevention of diseases which are related to childhood obesity and physical inactivity.
This paper presents the first findings from Math Elements user experience (UX) studies. Math Elements is a game that makes the whole Finnish maths K-2 curriculum (kindergarten and primary school grades 1 and 2) available for players all over the world. The game is based on teachable agent approach, which means that in the game players can teach math skills to their game characters. Research focused on evaluating the implementation of the game, exploring players' opinions about the game, and studying how the game fits to classroom usage. The participants were Finnish (N = 111) and Irish (N = 42) primary school pupils. In both cases interviews, game log data and observation methods were used to evaluate the UX. The Finnish study was conducted in two phases. First, one first grade class (N = 23) participated in a focus group study in which they played the Math Elements game in small groups and finally eight of the pupils participated in an eye tracking study. Second, the class introduced the game in their school and after that all first and second graders of the school played the game daily during a three weeks period. The Irish case study was different from Finnish study and the results are not directly comparable. The Irish pupils (fourth and fifth graders) played the game for 50 minutes as a part of their regular schoolwork. In general, Math Elements was experienced as an engaging learning game in all studied age groups and it was found to fit well into classroom usage in certain contexts. The paper presents the details of the conducted UX studies and discusses the meaning of UX in educational games.
Silver ink conductors and passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) tags were printed by the screen printing method on stretchable PVC substrate. Two inks with different particle content were used. We investigated the electrical performance of the conductors in unloaded conditions and during straining with resistance measurement. The printed RFID tags were characterized in similar circumstances through wireless tag measurements. The goal of the study was to evaluate the usability of printed conductors and RFID tags as strain sensors and to find out, if it is possible to modify their strain sensitivity by adjusting the ink particle content. The results showed that the particle content could be used to modify the strain sensors based on printed conductors and RFID tags. Both structures offer various possibilities for applications, such as monitoring of human bodily functions and movements.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.