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Evaluating a Gaming System for Cognitive Screening and Sleep Duration Assessment of Elderly Players: A Pilot Study

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Games and Learning Alliance (GALA 2016)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10056))

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Abstract

Using serious games for cognitive screening can provide a motivating and entertaining alternative to traditional cognitive screening methods. Cognitive decline is usually measured by tests of mental processing, however age-related changes in sleep may also reveal signs of cognitive decline among older individuals. The current work presents and evaluates a gaming system for cognitive screening and sleep duration assessment of the elderly. The gaming system consists of an original serious game for cognitive screening (Smartkuber) and a smartwatch (Basis Peak). A pilot study is conducted to identify and improve the weaknesses of the gaming system and to evaluate the gaming system as to its usability and the game experience it offers for elderly players, assesing its suitability for a large-scale study. The pilot study lasted for 6 weeks and 101 gaming sessions were recorded from 5 elderly players. Elderly players were entertained by the game, while they were impressed by the smartwatch’s performance. Limitations of the study and future directions are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the staff and volunteers of Seniornett Norge (Oslo) for their support and participation in the study, as well as Tore Langemyr Larsen and Joop Cuppen for establishing this meaningful collaboration. The authors also thank Dr. Brynjar Landmark for his significant contribution to the smartwatch’s use and the game’s design, development, and evaluation processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Teknologivegen 22, 2815, Gjøvik, Norway

    Costas Boletsis & Simon McCallum

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  1. Costas Boletsis
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  2. Simon McCallum
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Correspondence to Costas Boletsis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Educational Technology, Genova, Italy

    Rosa Bottino

  2. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Johan Jeuring

  3. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Remco C. Veltkamp

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Boletsis, C., McCallum, S. (2016). Evaluating a Gaming System for Cognitive Screening and Sleep Duration Assessment of Elderly Players: A Pilot Study. In: Bottino, R., Jeuring, J., Veltkamp, R. (eds) Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10056. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50182-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50182-6_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50181-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50182-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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