Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

Gaming for Therapy in a

Healthcare Smart Ambient

by Rui Neves Madeira1,2

and Octavian Postolache3 and Nuno Correia2
1 [ESTSetúbal, Polytechnic University of Setúbal]
2 [Interactive Multimedia Group, CITI/DI/FCT/New University of Lisbon]
3 [Telecommunications Institute, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon]

[Portugal]

AmGam 2011 - International Workshop on Ambient Gaming

November 16, 2011 - Amsterdam

Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

PhD topic
“Personalization in Pervasive Spaces towards Smart HCI
Design”

•Personalization model framework proposal with the goal of

facilitating the implementation of personalized interfaces in
pervasive spaces/ambients.
–how the model can be generally defined; distributed and processed
among heterogeneous devices, and what it really adds to human
computer interaction?

–the work should present a study on how pervasive systems

personalization can be evaluated.

Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011

Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

HSA - Healthcare Smart Ambient

In a world’s increasingly aging population… Improve life quality of elderly people in their living
spaces

Goals/Requirements:
• Pervasive healthcare assistive system mainly directed to the elderly
• Based on detection of people involved in their everyday life activities
• Apps and Information embedded on the ambient of application (e.g., a home
for elderly)
• (Persuasive) information about an elderly displayed accordingly to user’s profile
• Remotely available to a health caregiver in a clinic/hospital
• Actors (system users):
– the elderly (or others) lying in bed, using a wheelchair or using a walking aid
– an “observer” that is an accompanying person (e.g., nurse, familiar) in the ambient
– the health caregiver (or doctor) that can take decisions according to the presented values

Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011

 Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

HSA’s Stuff
• Wheelchairs and walkers are considered as smart objects
– enhanced, augmented, with health status acquisition and motion sensing, RF identification technology and
wireless communication, etc…

• Wheelchairs will have a tablet for HCI (eg, show critical information)
• Integration of ambient displays... distributed closely to corresponding
objects (e.g., beds) or at critical points Flex1 Flex2

rBCG-S

BallistoCardioGraphy sensors (BCG-S) based on electromechanical

film sensor (EMFIT L-3030); or contactless BallistoCardioGraphy
sensor (rBCG-S) [FMCW Doppler InnoSent IVS-162 radar].

Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011

 Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

RFID Location Tests - hardware

RFID is used to estimate the position of a
LF RFID embebded in the wheelchair structure to
wheelchair detect passive RFID tags on the floor

LF RFID Disc tags (125kHz)

Phidget RFID reader

Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011

Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

UbiTheragames Model Proposal

Pervasive technologies offer chances to develop interesting ubiquitous
theragames…
• Present a ubitheragames model of principles and criteria to
be followed in the design of theragames for the HSA
– application area (cognitive and motor rehabilitation); game genre
depending on the goal (evaluation of the movement (catch, reach and
grasp), strategy, etc); involved technologies (motion tracking devices,
RFID, physiological sensors, ambient displays, tablets mounted on
wheelchairs) ; game interface (2D); game mode (self-evaluative,
competitive and collaborative); etc

– should take into account the adaptability element, the capability to adapt
dynamically the game difficulty and proposed challenges. The system self-
adapts to the patient as she/he improves.

Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011

Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

Our HAS’ Gaming Prototypes

• Main game still in development
• Uses the movement and location of the user’s wheelchair
as input for gameplay.
• As a starting point, the game’s main mode should present
an indoor map in the wheelchair’s tablet
• Three gameplay scenarios:
– 1) The patient sees virtual objects at specific positions of the map, which
have to be “caught” through the physical movement of the wheelchair
passing on their corresponding physical positions (patients have to “pick-up” the
objects associated with a category, such as family or cooking);
– 2) Different physical circuits must be completed within time limits;
– 3) Patients have to move in the wheelchair to certain positions/zones
where adaptive sub-games are launched as activities (kinect will be used to
track body and arms motion).
Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011
Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

Example of Sub-game
• AftheraGame is a first functional sub-game.
• Combines elements of both memory and mahjong kind of games.
• Permits therapeutic intervention when semantic categorization and auditory
and reading comprehension are impaired in aphasia and alexia (e.g., after
stroke).

Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011

Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

Adapting/Personalizing
The games are adapted according to:
• patients’ physical and physiological data (biosignals input)
• combined with the patients’ current performance scoring (and
therapeutic scoring history) and goals
• used for setting up levels and activities (e.g., adaptation of GUI and
information) and for difficulty adaptation (e.g., game flow such as
maps design and selection, time limits, tips presentation).

• questionnaires posed to therapists and patients?

Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011

Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

Conclusions
• Our main goal is to identify and study technological and therapeutics
challenges to facilitate the development of ambient gaming, especially
for patients on wheelchairs.

Research Questions:
• What challenges must be identified?
– These patients really want to use all these (great?) ideas of (complex) smart spaces?
• How to address personalization in ambient gaming? …main issues?
• ….

Rui Neves Madeira @ AmGam 2011

 Gaming for Therapy in a Healthcare Smart Ambient

Gaming for Therapy in a

Healthcare Smart Ambient

by Rui Neves Madeira1,2

and Octavian Postolache3 and Nuno Correia2
1 [ESTSetúbal, Polytechnic University of Setúbal]
2 [Interactive Multimedia Group, DI/FCT/New University of Lisbon]
3 [Telecommunications Institute, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon]

[Portugal]

AmGam 2011 - International Workshop on Ambient Gaming

November 16, 2011 - Amsterdam