Custom-designed motion-based games for older adults: a review of literature in human-computer interaction

Many older adults, particularly persons living in senior residences and care homes, lead sedentary lifestyles, which reduces their life expectancy. Motion-based video games encourage physical activity and might be an opportunity for these adults to remain active and engaged; however, research efforts in the field have frequently focused on younger audiences and little is known about the requirements and benefits of motion-based games for elderly players. In this paper, we present an overview of motion-based video games and other interactive technologies for older adults. First, we summarize existing approaches towards the definition of motion-based video games – often referred to as exergames – and suggest a categorization of motion-based applications into active video games, exergames, and augmented sports. Second, we use this scheme to classify case studies addressing design efforts particularly directed towards older adults. Third, we analyze these case studies with a focus on potential target audiences, benefits, challenges in their deployment, and future design opportunities to investigate whether motion-based video games can be applied to encourage physical activity among older adults. In this context, special attention is paid to evaluation routines and their implications regarding the deployment of such games in the daily lives of older adults. The results show that many case studies examine isolated aspects of motion-based game design for older adults, and despite the broad range of issues in motion-based interaction for older adults covered by the sum of all research projects, there appears to be a disconnect between laboratory-based research and the deployment of motion-based video games in the daily lives of senior citizens. Our literature review suggests that despite research results suggesting various benefits of motion-based play for older adults, most work in the field of game design for senior citizens has focused on the implementation of accessible user interfaces, and that little is known about the long-term deployment of video games for this audience, which is a crucial step if these games are to be implemented in activity programs of senior residences, care homes, or in therapy

Human factors in entertainment computing: designing for diversity

Although several casual gaming systems have been developed during the past years, little research examining the impact of human factors on the design and use of digital games has been carried out, and commercially available games are only partially suitable for audiences with special needs. The research project described within this paper aims to analyze and explore design guidelines for diverse audiences and results of focus group gaming sessions to develop a research toolbox allowing for the easy creation of adaptable and accessible game scenarios. Thereby, a controllable environment for the detailed evaluation of the interrelations between human factors and entertainment systems is provided. Results obtained by further testing will be integrated in the toolbox, and may foster the development of accessible games, thus opening up new opportunities for diverse audiences and allowing them to further engage in digital games. Copyright 2011 ACM

Restructuring and competitiveness in the transition process: Evidence from an Eastern German firm panel

In a transforming economy there is a common legacy of most companies: their low competitiveness as the result of an obsolete capital stock and overmanning, insufficient product quality that does not satisfy demand, distorted specialization patterns, high and partly ill-designed integration, suboptimal size and inadequate management capacities. Restructuring companies is therefore a challenging task. The paper examines the painful adjustment process in eastern German manufacturing against the background of the unpleasant trade-off between the pace of wage increase and the level of transfer payments to spur investment and to finance consumption. The core question is how the performance of companies has developed with regard to ownership structure, firm size and industry. The paper - first, analyses the dilemma from a theoretical point of view, - second, highlights the economic repercussions of the companies' adjustment behaviour to be mirrored in the data, and - third, draws the conclusions and provides some suggestions for further analysis. Data used in the paper mainly come from a sample of firms under investigation of the Deutsches Institut fur Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin, since 1991.

East-west corporate networking: A theoretical approach

In recent years after the beginning of the transition process, firms in Central and Eastern European countries have been trying hard to find access to international markets and production chains. Rapidly changing institutional, technological and demand conditions together with decades of isolation from world markets do not let ,,stand-alone strategies appear very successful in this context. The paper presents networking activities as a promising alternative for Central and Eastern European firms (CEEF) to organize international transactions. As several theories show, network forms of organization can - by establishing an atmosphere of trust and stability and by pooling resources and information - make it possible for network members to realize an economic advantage over external competitors that is higher than in markets or hierarchies. Among various types of networking activities, it is especially long-term-orientated relations that offer the possibility for CEEF to participate in an international exchange of crucial technologies and to upgrade their position in global production chains in the long run.

Measuring the impact of game controllers on player experience in FPS games

An increasing amount of games is released on multiple platforms, and game designers face the challenge of integrating different interaction paradigms for console and PC users while keeping the core mechanics of a game. However, little research has addressed the influence of game controls on player experience. In this paper, we examine the impact of mouse and keyboard versus gamepad control in first-person shooters using the PC and PlayStation 3 versions of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. We conducted a study with 45 participants to compare player experience and game usability issues of participants who had previously played similar games on one of the respective gaming systems, while also exploring the effects of players being forced to switch to an unfamiliar platform. The results show that players switching to a new platform experience more usability issues and consider themselves more challenged, but report an equally positive overall experience as players on their comfort platform. © 2011 ACM

Combining explicit and implicit measures to study the effects of persuasive games

Understanding how games influence players is an integral part of persuasive game design. However, evaluating player attitudes to determine the success of a persuasive game can be difficult, e.g., if games deal with sensitive topics that invite socially desirable answers to explicit measures such as questionnaires. In this paper, we discuss the application of an implicit measure – the Implicit Association Test – to support explicit data, and to help game designers and games user researchers better understand the effects of persuasive games on player attitudes

KINECTWheels: wheelchair-accessible motion-based game interaction

The increasing popularity of full-body motion-based video games creates new challenges for game accessibility research. Many games strongly focus on able-bodied persons and require players to move around freely. To address this problem, we introduce KINECTWheels, a toolkit that facilitates the integration of wheelchair-based game input. Our library can help game designers to integrate wheelchair input at the development stage, and it can be configured to trigger keystroke events to make off-the-shelf PC games wheelchair-accessible

A Multi-Isotopic Approach to the Reconstruction of Prehistoric Mobility and Economic Patterns in the West Eurasian Steppes 3500 to 300 BC

The West Eurasian steppes during the Eneolithic, the Early and Middle Bronze and the Iron Age were largely inhabited by communities believed to show an elevated level of spatial mobility, often linked to their subsistence economy. In this doctoral thesis, questions concerning the mobility and migration as well as the diet and economy of these, in some sense mobile communities were approached by applying isotope analyses, particularly 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ15N and δ13C analyses. Adapting these methods to a study area of extremely large spatial and chronological dimensions and to a proportionally undersized sample set certainly tested the limits of the methods, but it also allowed a wide variety of questions to be answered