Full-body motion-based game interaction for older adults

Older adults in nursing homes often lead sedentary lifestyles, which reduces their life expectancy. Full-body motion-control games provide an opportunity for these adults to remain active and engaged; these games are not designed with age-related impairments in mind, which prevents the games from being leveraged to increase the activity levels of older adults. In this paper, we present two studies aimed at developing game design guidelines for full-body motion controls for older adults experiencing age-related changes and impairments. Our studies also demonstrate how full-body motion-control games can accommodate a variety of user abilities, have a positive effect on mood and, by extension, the emotional well-being of older adults. Based on our studies, we present seven guidelines for the design of full-body interaction in games. The guidelines are designed to foster safe physical activity among older adults, thereby increasing their quality of life. Copyright 2012 ACM

Exploring strategies and guidelines for developing full body video game interfaces

We present a Wizard-of-Oz study exploring full body video game interaction. Using the commercial video game Mirror’s Edge, players are presented with several different tasks such as running, jumping, and climbing. Following our protocol, participants were given complete freedom in choosing the motions and gestures to compete these tasks. Our experiment results show a mix of natural and constrained gestures adapted to space and field of view restrictions. We present guidelines for future full body interfaces. Categories and Subject Descriptor

Exploring Strategies And Guidelines For Developing Full Body Video Game Interfaces

We present a Wizard-of-Oz study exploring full body video game interaction. Using the commercial video game Mirror\u27s Edge, players are presented with several different tasks such as running, jumping, and climbing. Following our protocol, participants were given complete freedom in choosing the motions and gestures to compete these tasks. Our experiment results show a mix of natural and constrained gestures adapted to space and field of view restrictions. We present guidelines for future full body interfaces. © 2010 ACM

Heuristiikat liikeohjattavien pelien suunnitteluun ja arviointiin

Liikeohjattava pelaaminen tarkoittaa sitä, että pelin ohjaaminen tapahtuu pelaajan tietyn vartalon osan tai koko vartalon avulla. Pelien liikeohjaus on viime vuosien aikana yleistynyt, kun Wii, PlayStation 3 ja Xbox 360 ovat tuoneet liikeohjauksen perinteisen peliohjaimella tapahtuvan ohjauksen rinnalle. Liikeohjattava pelaaminen eroaa kuitenkin sormien liikkeisiin ja painikkeiden painalluksiin perustuvasta perinteisestä peliohjain-ohjauksesta huomattavasti, joten pelien suunnittelussa on otettava huomioon erilaisia asioita. Tutkielman tavoitteena on luoda heuristiikat liikeohjattavien pelien suunnitteluun ja arviointiin tarkastelemalla liikeohjattavaan pelaamiseen liittyviä ongelmia. Näitä liikeohjaukseen liittyviä ongelmia ja kokemuksia kerättiin useista eri Internet-sivustojen julkaisemista peliarvosteluista. Tarkastelun kohteena oli joukko Move- ja Kinect-pelejä, joissa pelin ohjaus tapahtuu liikeohjauksella joko liikeohjainta käyttäen tai ilman ohjainta. Peliarvosteluista kerätyt ongelmat jaettiin 13 eri ryhmään, jossa kukin ryhmä edustaa jotakin tiettyä liikeohjaukseen liittyvää ongelmatyyppiä. Näiden ongelmatyyppien perusteella luotiin vastaava määrä heuristiikkoja viihdekäyttöön suunnattujen liikeohjattavien pelien suunnitteluun ja arviointiin. Tulosten perusteella liikeohjattavien pelien suunnittelussa tulisi kiinnittää huomiota pelissä suoritettavien liikkeiden monipuolisuuteen, niiden aiheuttamaan fyysiseen väsymykseen, liikkeiden haasteellisuuteen, todenmukaisuuteen, liikkeiden suorittamiseen liittyvään ohjeistukseen, liikkeiden suorittamisesta annettavaan palautteeseen, liikkeiden tunnistukseen, liikeohjauksen herkkyyteen ja tarkkuuteen, pelin tahtiin, moninpelaamiseen liikeohjauksella sekä pelitilan asettamiseen

Motion-Based Video Games for Older Adults in Long-Term Care

Older adults in residential care often lead sedentary lifestyles despite physical and cognitive activities being crucial for their well-being. Care facilities face the challenge of encouraging their residents to participate in leisure activities, but as the impact of age-related changes grows, few activities remain accessible. Video games in general – and motion-based games in particular – hold the promise of providing mental, physical and social stimulation for older adults. However, the accessibility of commercially available games for older adults is not considered during the development process. Therefore, many older adults are unable to obtain any of the benefits. In my dissertation, this issue is addressed through the development of motion-based game controls that specifically address the needs of older adults. The first part of this thesis lays the foundation by providing an overview of motion-based game interaction for older adults. The second part demonstrates the general feasibility of motion-based game controls for older adults, develops full-body motion-based and wheelchair-based game controls, and provides guidelines for accessible motion-based game interaction for institutionalized older adults. The third part of this thesis builds on these results and presents two case studies. Motion-based controls are applied and further evaluated in game design projects addressing the special needs of older adults in long-term care, with the first case study focusing on long-term player engagement and the role of volunteers in care homes, and the second case study focusing on connecting older adults and caregivers through play. The results of this dissertation show that motion-based game controls can be designed to be accessible to institutionalized older adults. My work also shows that older adults enjoy engaging with motion-based games, and that such games have the potential of positively influencing them by providing a physically and mentally stimulating leisure activity. Furthermore, results from the case studies reveal the benefits and limitations of computer games in long-term care. Fostering inclusive efforts in game design and ensuring that motion-based video games are accessible to broad audiences is an important step toward allowing all players to obtain the full benefits of games, thereby contributing to the quality of life of diverse audiences

Motion-based Interaction for Head-Mounted Displays

Recent advances in affordable sensing technologies have enabled motion-based interaction (MbI) for head-mounted displays (HMDs). Unlike traditional input devices like the mouse and keyboard, which often offer comparatively limited interaction possibilities (e.g., single-touch interaction), MbI does not have these constraints and is more natural because they reflect more closely people do things in real life. However, several issues exist in MbI for HMDs due to the technical limitations of the sensing and tracking devices, higher degrees of freedom afforded to users, and limited research in the area due to the rapid advancement of HMDs and tracking technologies. This thesis first outlines four core challenges in the design space of MbI for HMDs: (1) boundary awareness for hand-based interaction, (2) efficient hands-free head-based interface for HMDs, (3) efficient and feasible full-body interaction for general tasks with HMDs, and (4) accessible full-body interaction for applications in HMDs. Then, this thesis presents an investigation into the contributions of these challenges in MbI for HMDs. The first challenge is addressed by providing visual feedback during interaction tailored for such technologies. The second challenge is addressed by using a circular layout with a go-and-hit selection style for head-based interaction using text entry as the scenario. In addition, this thesis explores additional interaction mechanisms that leverage the affordances of these techniques, and in doing so, we propose directional full-body motions as an interaction approach to perform general tasks with HDMs as an example to address the third challenge. The last challenge is addressed by (1) exploring the differences between performing full-body interaction for HMDs and common displays (i.e., TV) and (2) providing a set of design guidelines that are specific to current and future HMDs. The results of this thesis show that: (1) visual methods for boundary awareness can help with mid-air hand-based interaction in HMDs; (2) head-based interaction and interfaces that take advantages of MbI, such as a circular interface, can be very efficient and low error hands-free input method for HMDs; (3) directional full-body interaction can be a feasible and efficient interaction approach for general tasks involving HMDs; (4) full-body interaction for applications in HMDs should be designed differently than for traditional displays. In addition to these results, this thesis provides a set of design recommendations and takeaway messages for MbI for HMDs