Future Trends of Virtual, Augmented Reality, and Games for Health

Serious game is now a multi-billion dollar industry and is still growing steadily in many sectors. As a major subset of serious games, designing and developing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and serious games or adopting off-the-shelf games to support medical education, rehabilitation, or promote health has become a promising frontier in the healthcare sector since 2004, because games technology is inexpensive, widely available, fun and entertaining for people of all ages, with various health conditions and different sensory, motor, and cognitive capabilities. In this chapter, we provide the reader an overview of the book with a perspective of future trends of VR, AR simulation and serious games for healthcare

Multi-user virtual environments for physical education and sport training

For effective learning and training, virtual environments may provide lifelike opportunities, and researchers are actively investigating their potential for educational purposes. Minimal research attention has been paid to the integration of multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) technology for teaching and practicing real sports. In this chapter, the authors reviewed the justifications, possibilities, challenges, and future directions of using MUVE systems. The authors addressed issues such as informal learning, design, engagement, collaboration, learning style, learning evaluation, motivation, and gender, followed by the identification of required elements for successful implementations. In the second part, the authors talked about exergames, the necessity of evaluation, and examples on exploring the behavior of players during playing. Finally, insights on the application of sports exergames in teaching, practicing, and encouraging real sports were discussed

Nuove tecnologie per garantire il benessere fisico: strategie didattiche e motivazionali

The introductory part of this paper will discuss the importance of the use of new technologies, analysing their typologies and benefits, in the context of prevention and treatment of chronic and degenerative diseases, with the aim of guaranteeing physical well-being and the consequent improvement of the quality of life in modern society. In the second section, the contribution, using a narrative theoretical method, will deal with the methodologies applied in the pursuit of the  aforementioned aim. In the final section, the benefits found in the population will be highlighted, underlining how the linkbetween new technologies and physical well-being will make them inextricably complementary in the future.La parte introduttiva di questo contributo discuterà l’importanza dell’utilizzo delle nuove tecnologie, analizzandone le tipologie e i benefici, nell’ambito della prevenzione e cura delle malattie croniche e degenerative, con l’obiettivo di garantire il benessere fisico e il conseguente miglioramento della la qualità della vita nella società moderna. Nella seconda sezione, il contributo,utilizzando un metodo teorico narrativo, tratterà le metodologie applicate nel perseguimento del suddetto obiettivo. Nella sezione finale verranno evidenziati i benefici riscontrati nella popolazione, sottolineando come il legame tra le nuove tecnologie e il benessere fisico le renderà indissolubilmente complementari in futuro

Information technology for active ageing: A review of theory and practice

Active Ageing aims to foster a physically, mentally and socially active lifestyle as a person ages. It is a complex, multi-faceted problem that involves a variety of different actors, such as policy makers, doctors, care givers, family members, friends and, of course, older adults. This review aims to understand the role of a new actor, which increasingly plays the role of enabler and facilitator, i.e., that of the technology provider. The review specifically focuses on Information Technology (IT), with a particular emphasis on software applications, and on how IT can prevent decline, compensate for lost capabilities, aid care, and enhance existing capabilities. The analysis confirms the crucial role of IT in Active Ageing, shows that Active Ageing requires a multidisciplinary approach, and identifies the need for better integration of hardware, software, the environment and the involved actors

Games for health for children - current status and needed research

Videogames for health (G4H) offer exciting, innovative, potentially highly effective methods for increasing knowledge, delivering persuasive messages, changing behaviors, and influencing health outcomes. Although early outcome results are promising, additional research is needed to determine the game design and behavior change procedures that best promote G4H effectiveness and to identify and minimize possible adverse effects. Guidelines for ideal use of different types of G4H by children and adolescents should be elucidated to enhance effectiveness and minimize adverse effects. G4H stakeholders include organizational implementers, policy makers, players and their families, researchers, designers, retailers, and publishers. All stakeholders should be involved in G4H development and have a voice in setting goals to capitalize on their insights to enhance effectiveness and use of the game. In the future, multiple targeted G4H should be available to meet a population's diverse health needs in developmentally appropriate ways. Substantial, consistent, and sophisticated research with appropriate levels of funding is needed to realize the benefits of G4H

Sports in Digital Era

The thesis's primary purpose is to demonstrate the growth of the digital era on the sports industry for awareness and better management. Moreover, it aims to explain the digital technology revolution and its effect on physical activities and sports. The paper presents a social analysis of sports regarding the effects of the IV Industrial Revolution, driven by an unprecedented level of development in materials sciences, digital technology, and biology. The future views on the evolution of the sports industry and options for the sports manager in the phase of digital transition are illustrated. The conclusion summarizes the implications and represents the direction of the sports industry.O objetivo desta tese é demonstrar o crescimento da era digital na indrústia desportiva para a consciencialização e uma melhor gestão. Além disso, visa explicar a revolução tecnológica digital e a sua influência na atividade física e desporto. O documento apresenta uma análise social do desporto em relação aos efeitos da IV Revolução Industrial, impulsionada pelo sem precedente nível de desenvolvimento nas ciências materiais, tecnologia digital e biologia. O futuro da evolução da indústria do desporto e as opções dos gestores desportivos na fase de transição do digital. A conclusão resume as implicações e reflete a direção da indústria do desporto

Interventions for Childhood Obesity: Evaluating Technological Applications Targeting Physical Activity Level and Diet

Overweight and obese children have increased risks for multiple preventable diseases and conditions which can impair their physiological health and significantly increases the overall cost of their healthcare. Free mobile applications and technology for weight loss, dietary tracking, and physical activity may be quite useful for monitoring nutritional intake and exercise to facilitate weight loss. If so, nurses are well positioned to recommend such tools as part of their efforts to prevent childhood obesity and help children and parents better manage childhood obesity when it is present. However, there are no guidelines that nurses can use to determine what applications or technologies are most beneficial to children and their parents. The purpose of this project is to develop such guidelines based on a review of the scientific literature published in the last 5 years. Articles regarding healthy-lifestyle promoting mobile applications and technological approaches to health and fitness interventions were identified by searching articles indexed by CINAHL, Psychinfo, Medline, ERIC, IEEE Xplore, and Academic Search Premier. Identified articles were assessed using Melnyk’s hierarchy of evidence and organized into tables so that implications for research and suggestions for practice could be made

Physical literacy: Importance, assessment and future directions

Physical literacy (PL) has become a major focus of physical education, physical activity and sports promotion worldwide. PL is a multifaceted conceptualisation of the skills required to fully realise potentials through embodied experience. Substantial financial investments in PL education by governments are underpinned by a wide range of anticipated benefits, including expectations of significant future savings to healthcare, improved physical and psychological well-being of the population, increased work-force productivity and raised levels of expertise in sport and exercise participation. However, disappointingly, scientific evidence showing the efficacy of PL interventions to successfully meet such high expectation is limited. We suggest that contradictions in research findings are due largely to limitations in movement assessment batteries and consequent discrepancies between measurements used to assess the immediate outcomes of PL programmes. Notably, there is no robust empirical tool for evidencing skill learning in the physical movement component of PL, education and this presents a serious limitation to the design of, and claims that can be made for, such interventions. Considering the parameters of proficient PL skills and the limitations of current evaluation instruments, possible future directions for developing empirical measures of PL movement skills are presented