A Pilot Tool of the Virtual Scenario Initial Dementia Cognitive Screening (VSIDCS) with a Cultural Exhibition for Improving the Standard Traditional Test

Abstract

Dementia has become a serious global health problem for older people. In the past, primary screening for dementia was carried out by a paper test. These standard traditional tests (e.g., Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)) have been used for many years. In addition to paper tests, is there another way to let people have better involvement and emotions during the test procedure? With the advancement of technology, the application of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have changed and improved many medical technologies. However, there are few applications of VR and AR in dementia screening. The purpose of this study was to apply VR and AR to construct a pilot tool for virtual scenario initial dementia cognitive screening (VSIDCS) with a cultural exhibition, to achieve better involvement and emotions in participants. There were three operating interfaces designed for the system: a VR screening interface, cognitive board, and AR recognition interface. There were twenty-four middle-aged people (Female 10 and Male 14 between 50 and 65 years of age and with an average age of 58.7 years) selected for the test. The results of the experiments showed that VSIDCS test scores are consistent with those of the MoCA and MMSE. Additionally, VSIDCS can induce better involvement and emotions than the MoCA and MMSE. Participants showed better enthusiasm and more positive experiences during the VSIDCS test.

Visualization and Interaction Technologies in Serious and Exergames for Cognitive Assessment and Training: A Survey on Available Solutions and Their Validation

“…Solutions combining non-immersive VR and AR technologies also exist. Authors in [59] design a tool for screening initial dementia: participants visit a virtual cultural relic exhibition and have to complete a test while visiting the exhibition by scanning the answer's code shown on a "cognitive board" with a mobile phone.…”

“…In the first case, the user is required to handle a device and apply a physical pressure to a surface to trigger events. Whereas, in the second case, [2], [4], [5], [7], [10], [11], [18], [22], [24], [25], [28], [30], [34], [45], [51], [53], [60]- [121] 79 Mobile devices [13], [16], [19], [26], [31], [36], [37], [39], [41], [43], [44], [59],…”

“…Immediate feedback after actions can also be useful, as it could help the users knowing when they succeeded or failed and why, recognizing their errors, recovering strategies, reducing their frustration and increasing their motivation. To this purpose, multimodal feedback are often provided, through congratulation messages, hints or events, like objects disappearing if correctly selected or sounds of clapping hands to highlight the correctness of a given answer [4]- [6], [13], [20], [41], [43], [50], [57], [59], [106], [112], [125], [133], [162], [208], [210]- [212]. Finally, since the benefits of cognitive training might only be noticed in the long term, healthy competition is greatly appreciated as it can positively affect patients psychological well-being and promote social networking.…”

“…Touchscreen surface [3]- [5], [7], [13], [16], [19], [21], [26], [31]- [33], [36], [37], [39], [41], [43], [44], [48], [50], [58], [59], [85], [118], [121]- [127], [129]- [145], [160]- [168], [199], [225], [232] 60…”

“…Authors frequently do not explicitly share information about the availability of raw data and applications used, though this would be very important for the research community and for the medical doctors. Dataset is sometimes made explicitly available online [49], [214] or from the corresponding author on reasonable request because of privacy policies, ethical or proprietary constraints [10], [15], [19], [23], [30], [34], [44], [59], [77], [79], [107], [109], [112], [114], [120], [136], [152], [173], [175], [208], [213], [215], [217]. Moreover, excluding commercial and proprietary applications, we can still find free download [64], [80], [99], [122], [184], open source [77] and freely accessible Web applications [21], [30], [106].…”