Exergame design for elderly users: the case study of SilverBalance

In this paper, we discuss chances and challenges of game design for an elderly audience with a focus on the development of safe and usable exertion games for frail senior citizens. Based on an analysis of theoretical constraints, we conducted a case study which implements different balance tasks for elderly players featuring the Nintendo Wii Balance Board which encourages users to actively engage in game play. Furthermore, we tested the feasibility of the board as input device for our case study SilverBalance. Our results indicate that age-related impairments influence the use of video games among frail elderly in many respects, hence their needs have to be considered during the design process. In this context, our paper provides a foundation for future research regarding digital games for the elderly. © 2010 ACM

Serious interface design for dental health: Wiimote-based tangible interaction for school children

This paper describes a camera-based approach towards creating a tangible interface for serious games. We introduce our game for dental health targeted at school children which implements the Nintendo WiiMote as infrared camera. Paired with a gesture-recognition system, this combination allows us to apply real-world items as input devices. Thereby, the game tries to address different aspects of dental hygiene along with the improvement of children's motor skills. In our focus group test, we found that tangible interfaces offer great potential for educational purposes and can be used to engage kids in a playful learning process by addressing their childlike curiosity and fostering implicit learning

Evaluating social games for kids and teenagers diagnosed with cancer

Serious games for health are interactive games with a focus on health care, physical and mental fitness. As it is assumed that social support can also indirectly influence patient's health condition, multiplayer online health games present an innovative approach of improving the player's health condition. In this paper we present the health game prototype "Adventures in Sophoria" developed at the University of Duisburg-Essen with the goal of facilitating the intercommunication of teenagers during cancer treatment. Two versions of the game were implemented, one explicitly referring to cancer and an implicit version with no cancer content. In a between-subjects experimental study with a clinical sample, both versions were compared. Additionally, parents and nursing staff were interviewed in order to evaluate the demand regarding health games. Results suggest that the implicit game version yielded higher enjoyment and acceptance compared to the explicit version. © 2011 IEEE

Transformer based front-end for a low power 2.4 GHz transceiver

A low power transceiver architecture for the 2.4 GHz ISM band using a 1.0 V supply is presented. It employs a transformer to convert the 100 Ω antenna impedance to almost 1 kΩ and so facilitates a low power transmitter and receiver. The simulated post-layout output power of the differential class-E power amplifier is 2.0 dBm with a drain efficiency of 28.4%. The direct-conversion receiver achieves a very low power consumption of 420 μW and a noise figure of 15.0 dB.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-08447Junta de Andalucía TIC-0281

The Double-Edged Sword of Health Data Breaches: A Comparison of Customer and Stock Price Perspectives on the Impact of Data Breaches of Response Strategies

Unauthorized access to personal health data, known as data breaches, causes multi-faceted adverse effects and damage. Companies are trying to counteract the impact on customer relationships through recovery strategies such as compensation. On the other hand, there is also a negative effect on the company's stock price. Here, the literature suggests an opposite effect of response strategies, but this has not been explored further until recently. Our study takes both perspectives into account and examines the impact of data breaches on the market valuation in the health sector through an event study. Our results show a controversial relationship: If companies offered compensation to their customers in response to a data breach, this had a negative effect on the company's stock price. Our paper discusses this finding and derives practical implications and lessons learned for response strategies in the case of recent data breaches in the health sector

Agents Cut Emissions On how a Multi-Agent System Contributes to a more Sustainable Energy Consumption

AbstractThe Vehicle-to-Grid technology allows electric vehicles to not only procure electric energy, but also to feed energy back into the grid network. However, by using Vehicle-to-Grid, energy literally degenerates into an article of merchandise and becomes of interest to several stakeholders. In this paper, we describe a multi-agent system, which embraces this exact view and maximises the interest of several stakeholders in using Vehicle-to-Grid capable electric vehicles. In order to emphasise the applicability of our approach we performed a field test with real electric vehicles and charging stations. We describe both, implementational details as well as the results of our field test in this paper

Institutions and Growth in Europe. CEPS Working Document No. 421, April 2016

This paper provides empirical evidence in support of the view that the quality of institutions is an important determinant of long-term growth of European countries. When also taking into account the initial level of GDP per capita and government debt, cross-country institutional differences can explain to a great extent the relative long-term GDP performance of European countries. It also shows that an initial government debt level above a threshold (e.g. 60-70%) coupled with institutional quality below the EU average tends to be associated with particularly poor long-term real growth performance. Interestingly, the detrimental effect of high debt levels on long-term growth seems cushioned by the presence of very sound institutions. This might be because good institutions help to alleviate the debt problem in various ways, e.g. by ensuring sufficient fiscal consolidation in the longer-run, allowing for better use of government expenditures and promoting sustainable growth, social fairness and more efficient tax administration. The quality of national institutions seems to enhance the long-term GDP performance across a large sample of countries, also including OECD countries outside Europe. The paper offers some evidence that, in the presence of good institutions, conditions for catching-up seem generally good also for euro-area and fixed exchange rate countries. Looking at sub-groupings, it seems that sound institutions may be particularly important for long-term growth in the countries where the exchange rate tool is no longer available (and where also sovereign debt is high), and less so in the countries with flexible exchange rate regimes. However, this result is preliminary and requires further research. The empirical findings on the importance of institutions are robust to various measures of output growth, different measures of institutional indicators, different sample sizes, different country groupings and to the inclusion of additional control variables. Overall, the results tend to support the call for structural reforms in general and reforms enhancing the efficiency of public administration and regulation, the rule of law and the fight against rent-seeking and corruption in particular