Game-Based Learning Courseware for Pre-School Children for Healthy Eating

Game Based Learning (GBL) is still one of the most effective teaching strategies to enhance learning. Overweight and obesity are considered as dangerous problem around the world. Moreover, they have a direct relation with many health problems and diseases. This project helps to improve information through a project about overweight and obesity among pre-school children in UUM kindergarten. The project will propose a courseware Happy Healthy Meal (HHM) prototype for healthy eating. Each child can interact with a game to realize which are health and unhealthy food. This project focuses on pre-school in UUM kindergarten. The study will adopt the Vaishnavi & Kuechler methodology and ADDIE model to develop the prototype

Physical rehabilitation based on kinect serious games

This article presents a serious game framework developed using Unity 3D game engine and Kinect V2 sensor as a natural user interface. The developed serious games are used for objective evaluation of physical rehabilitation considering the Kinect V2 sensors for 3D motion detection of different body joints training and provide different types of data, such as angles velocities, for physiotherapists and patients during the rehabilitation process. The framework provide data storage capability in a remote database thus patient's biometric data, patients' medical record, obtained scores during serious game based training and values of metrics such as the distance between feet during game, left right feet usage frequency and execution time for imposed movement associated with game mechanics. A general description of the applied technologies on serious game for lower limb rehabilitation developments as so as the experimental results obtained for a set of volunteers are included in the paper.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Serious game for physical rehabilitation: measuring the effectiveness of virtual and real training environments

Recent advances in low-cost natural user interfaces such as Microsoft Kinect and Leap Motion controller allow the Virtual Reality implementation of 3D serious games for, posture, upper limb and lower limb rehabilitation purposes. However, it is very important to compare the results obtained by the users that train in virtual and real environments. This paper presents a virtual reality serious game for upper limb rehabilitation using a natural user interface expressed by Leap Motion controller. One of the developed virtual reality serious game for rehabilitation is converted to a real scenario with the same elements and rules and the same aims of physical rehabilitation. In order to extract appropriate information from the serious game based on real objects a RFID technology was used together with software components developed in LabVIEW. The evaluation of hand muscles' activity during the training session is based on the usage of thermography that permits to measure in an unobtrusive way the distribution of the temperature on the hands' level. Based on analysis of thermographic images obtained before and after serious game practice, the level of activity of specific muscles associated with training for virtual and real scenario is extracted. Experimental results that are also included in the paper underline the effectiveness of the proposed method for the comparison of the training in virtual and real scenarios.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Assessing Older Adults' Perspectives on Digital Game-Related Strategies to Foster Active and Healthy Ageing

The growing use of digital platforms among older adults has brought increased challenges to the design and development process, thus requiring considering age-related needs and changes. Nonetheless, a growing body of research suggests that different types of applications of digital platforms, i.e., digital games, can foster new opportunities to encourage active and healthy ageing (AHA) by promoting knowledge acquisition, developing competences, fostering well-being, and deepening social connections. Therefore, this study aims to assess older adults’ perspectives and participation in digital game-related strategies and how these can foster AHA. A mixed-methods approach was applied, resorting to field notes and a questionnaire, involving 18 participants aged between 63 and 81, at the Ageing Lab (Laboratório do Envelhecimento). Through 10 exploratory digital gaming-related sessions over approximately two months, participants were introduced to game-related strategies and online communities. Overall, this study sustained previous research about the influence of digital games and online communities in the promotion of AHA, by encouraging participation in society, acquisition of new digital competences in the dimensions of information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, and safety; and maintaining one’s health and well-being. Moreover, findings suggest that continued contact with information and communication technologies stimulates digital proficiency, thus further fostering inclusion in an increasingly digital society

The Importance of Visual Experience, Gender, and Emotion in the Assessment of an Assistive Tactile Mouse

Tactile maps are efficient tools to improve spatial understanding and mobility skills of visually impaired people. Their limited adaptability can be compensated with haptic devices which display graphical information, but their assessment is frequently limited to performance-based metrics only which can hide potential spatial abilities in O&M protocols. We assess a low-tech tactile mouse able to deliver three-dimensional content considering how performance, mental workload, behavior, and anxiety status vary with task difficulty and gender in congenitally blind, late blind, and sighted subjects. Results show that task difficulty coherently modulates the efficiency and difficulty to build mental maps, regardless of visual experience. Although exhibiting attitudes that were similar and gender-independent, the females had lower performance and higher cognitive load, especially when congenitally blind. All groups showed a significant decrease in anxiety after using the device. Tactile graphics with our device seems therefore to be applicable with different visual experiences, with no negative emotional consequences of mentally demanding spatial tasks. Going beyond performance-based assessment, our methodology can help with better targeting technological solutions in orientation and mobility protocols

PhysioAR: smart sensing and augmented reality for physical rehabilitation

The continuous evolution of technology allows for a better analysis of the human being. In certain medical areas such as physiotherapy is required a correct analysis of the patient's evolution. The development of Information and Communication Technologies and recent innovations in the Internet of Things opens new possibilities in the medical field as systems of remote monitoring of patients with new sensors that allow the correct analysis of the health data of patients. In physiotherapy one of the most common problems in the application of treatments is the patient demotivation, something that today can be reduced with the introduction of Augmented Reality that provides a new experience to the patient. For this purpose, a system was developed that combines intelligent sensors with Augmented Reality application that will help monitor patient performance. This system is capable of monitoring lower limb movements acceleration, knee joint angle, patient equilibrium, muscular activity and cardiac activity using electromyography and electrocardiography with a wearable set of tools for easy utilization.A evolução continua da tecnologia permite cada vez mais uma melhor análise do ser humano. Em certas áreas médicas, como a fisioterapia, é necessária uma correta análise da evolução do paciente. O desenvolvimento das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, e as inovações no domínio de Internet das Coisas novas possibilidades no ramo da medicina, como sistemas de monitorização remota de pacientes com novos sensores que permitem a correta análise dos dados de saúde dos pacientes. Na fisioterapia um dos problemas mais comuns na aplicação dos tratamentos é a desmotivação do paciente, algo que hoje pode ser reduzido com introdução da aplicação da Realidade Aumentada que proporciona uma nova experiência ao paciente. Para isso nesta dissertação foi desenvolvido um sistema que combina sensores inteligentes com Realidade Aumentada que vai ajudar o paciente monitorizando o seu desempenho. Este sistema é capaz de monitorizar o ângulo do joelho, captar acelaração de movimentos dos membros inferiores, equilíbrio do paciente, atividade muscular e atividade cárdica usando electromiografia e electrocardiografia num conjunto wearable de fácil utilização

Serious game augmented reality 3D for physical rehabilitation

This research consists in the development of a PhysioAR framework (Augmented Reality Physiotherapy) that consider a set of two wearable sensors (Left Controller and Right Controller and Meta/Oculus Quest headset controller for use in natural interactions with a set of AR therapeutic serious games developed on the Unity 3D. The system allows to perform training sessions for hands and fingers, knees and legs motor rehabilitation bearing in mind that the games are for people who have suffered from stroke. The training is part of special care that must be taken for this through the serious games that are properly adapted to be a source of motivation and easy to be played. This FisioAR project includes, two different apps designed, one for calendar and for physiotherapists has a background data with all information needed to do and other to make login in main app and have the possibility to interact with our three types of games specifically designed, developed and implemented for Oculus Quest. Two different mobile apps were constructed on Outsystems platform, where one is destinated to physiotherapists and other is destinated to AVC patient’s. Three Different types of serious games were developed on Unity Platform Engine and all the games have specific contents to be played according with motor and cognitive rehabilitation objectives. The first game called Boxes Game, has six cubes displayed with different colors and six spheres also with six different colors. The main goal of this game is to put the maximum number of spheres in a box with the same color. This game will involve the use of legs, knees and arms and can be easily adapted to each patients’ conditions, making it more or less demanding. The Second Game is called Garden Care Game. Its scenario was made with prefabs (assets) and materials from Unity asset store to simulate a realistic garden, with a watering can, fences and a set of flowers. The main goal of this game is to care the flowers with water. This simple goal is related with the measurement of the wrist rotation made by the patient through wearable sensors while watering each flower. This game as a score for each flower watered. In the Third Game called Puzzle Game, there’s a white screen with the same number of divisions as the existing image blocks in project.Esta pesquisa consiste no desenvolvimento de uma solução do projeto FisioAR baseada em dispositivos vestíveis, combinando um conjunto de sensores vestíveis e controlador de headset para uso em interações naturais com um conjunto de serious games terapêuticos VR desenvolvidos na plataforma de games 3D Unity. O sistema permite realizar treinos de reabilitação motora de mãos e dedos, joelhos e pernas tendo em vista que os jogos são para pessoas que sofreram AVC e devem ser tomados cuidados especiais com isso e que os jogos estão devidamente adaptados para serem mais simples. ser jogado. Este projeto FisioAR tem em todas as implementações, dois aplicativos diferentes projetados, três tipos diferentes de jogos projetados no Oculus Quest. Dois aplicativos diferentes foram construídos na plataforma Outsystems sendo um destinado a fisioterapeutas e outro a pacientes AVC. Três tipos diferentes de jogos foram especialmente projetados no Unity Platform Engine e todos os jogos possuem conteúdos específicos para serem jogados. O primeiro jogo denominado Boxes Game, tem seis cubos apresentados com cores diferentes e seis esferas também com seis cores diferentes. O principal objetivo deste jogo é colocar o número máximo de esferas em uma caixa com a mesma cor e com distância mínima percorrida. Este jogo envolverá o uso de pernas, joelhos e braços e pode ser facilmente adaptado às condições de cada paciente, tornando-o mais ou menos exigente. O segundo jogo é chamado de jogo de cuidado de jardim. Seu cenário foi feito com pré-fabricados e materiais da loja de ativos da unidade para simular um jardim realista, com regador, cercas e um conjunto de flores. O objetivo principal deste jogo é regar as flores. Esse objetivo simples está relacionado à medição da rotação do punho feita pelo paciente por meio de sensores vestíveis ao regar cada flor. Este jogo é uma pontuação para cada flor regada. No terceiro jogo, chamado Puzzle Game, há uma tela branca com o mesmo número de divisões que os blocos de imagem existentes no projeto