On the use of pervasive computing to support patients with obsessive compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder affecting 2% to 3% of world population. Patients having this disorder engage in repetitive and discomforting behaviors usually linked to controlling or cleaning. The potential of technical solutions trying to support both patients and therapists has been to a limited extent explored with some encouraging results. However, the use of a mobile phone application has not yet been explored. We present a study of a distributed application, partly running on mobile phone and partly on a website, with four patients suffering from OCD and their therapist. Our qualitative evaluation yields encouraging conclusions for practitioners and developers of such application

Practical, appropriate, empirically-validated guidelines for designing educational games

There has recently been a great deal of interest in the potential of computer games to function as innovative educational tools. However, there is very little evidence of games fulfilling that potential. Indeed, the process of merging the disparate goals of education and games design appears problematic, and there are currently no practical guidelines for how to do so in a coherent manner. In this paper, we describe the successful, empirically validated teaching methods developed by behavioural psychologists and point out how they are uniquely suited to take advantage of the benefits that games offer to education. We conclude by proposing some practical steps for designing educational games, based on the techniques of Applied Behaviour Analysis. It is intended that this paper can both focus educational games designers on the features of games that are genuinely useful for education, and also introduce a successful form of teaching that this audience may not yet be familiar with