Exploring the Motivators and Barriers of Older Adults Participating in an Interactive Exergame Intervention

Cognitive and physical activity are important to maintaining daily functioning in older adults. While bidirectional associations between cognitive and physical activity magnify with increasing age, elucidating shared benefits has been difficult as few interventions explicitly train on cognition and mobility simultaneously. We conducted focus groups among 14 older adults residing in an independent-living center who participated in an interactive video game study called Bandit the Dolphin, where participants simultaneously incorporated cognitive exercise and physical activity while navigating within a complex spatial environment to help Bandit jump, eat fish, and stun sharks. Using ‘sneaky exercise’ tactics, participants utilized upper extremities in conjunction with slight lower extremity movement to move Bandit within a 3-D oceanic environment. We conducted 3 semi-structured focus groups and analyzed the data using the “Sort and Sift, Think and Shift” method to assess general likes and dislikes as well as the primary motivators, barriers, and reasons for remaining in the study. Participants enjoyed the immersive nature, challenge, and “fun factor” of the game. Primary motivators for joining were generativity/helping others, self-improvement, from peer referrals, and because the study looked interesting. Key barriers reported in the study were exhaustion from standing, learning how to play in 3-D space, and frustration from lack of level advancement. Reasons for retention were due to the game being fun, a sense of duty, and fulfilling commitments. This information will guide ongoing research efforts to design interactive video game interventions that are enjoyable for older adults and maintain high retention rates.

The Effects of Feature Verbalizablity on Category Learning

This study intended to investigate the effects of varying factors on the use of verbal and implicit classification systems when learning novel categories in an interactive video game environment by measuring the effects of feature type (easy vs difficult to describe verbally). Verbal and implicit classification were operationalized by measuring rule-based and family resemblance strategy use respectively. This experiment found that participants presented with stimuli that were easy to describe verbally were more likely to use rule- based classification, while participants presented with stimuli that were difficult to describe verbally showed no preference for one form of classification. The results of this study open up a novel field of research within category learning, further exploring the effects of feature verbalizablity.

Effects of Interactive Video Game-Based Exercise on Balance in Diabetic Patients with Peripheral Neuropathy: An Open-Level, Crossover Pilot Study

Purpose. This study evaluated the effects of interactive video game-based (IVGB) exercise on balance in diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy. Materials and Methods. Twenty-four patients were randomly assigned to two groups (12 participants per group). Group A received IVGB training for the first 6 weeks, with no exercise in the subsequent 6 weeks. Group B had no exercise for the first 6 weeks and then underwent IVGB training in the subsequent 6 weeks. For all participants, the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale (MFES), Time Up and Go (TUG) test, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Unipedal Stance Test (UST) were employed at weeks 0, 6, and 12 of the experiment. Results. BBS, right-leg UST, and TUG test scores significantly improved after IVGB intervention, whereas MFES and left-leg UST tended to improve after IVGB intervention. Conclusions. This study revealed that 6-week balance-based exercise training using the IVGB system exerted positive effects on functional balance in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).

Borges’s “The Intruder” Remediated: Adaptation to Silver/Cyber Screens

The present article is a critical scene for studying Ghazal 1975, an Iranian film by Masud Kimiai and Natalie Bookchin’s videogame, The Intruder 1999, both adapted from Borges’s short story, “The Intruder”. Exploiting Linda Hutcheon’s A Theory of Adaptation (three modes of engagement in a story), the concentration is on showing how Borges’s story, as a telling mode (print), is remediated into showing (film) and interactive (video game). Ghazal exercises both fidelity criticism and appropriation regarding contextualization and adaptability, whereas The Intruder is a game of narration and interaction simultaneously, where the significance lies at studying the game’s “narrative mode” as a show case of Cyber Literature. The effort is aimed at scrutinizing how literary adaptations as forms of remediation a

Development of a Rehabilitation Game for Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury Using a User-Centered Design Process

The use of video games during exercise, exergaming, has been shown to increase energy expenditure without increasing perceived exertion [1]. This suggests that exergaming may be an effective way to engage a patient during rehabilitation and increase adherence to a rehabilitation regime. Existing exergame systems are designed with able bodied users in mind and often combine hand controlled game play while using lower limbs for aerobic exertion, making current systems inaccessible to individuals with spinal cord injuries and others without lower limb function. Our earlier work on increasing exercise accessibility includes developing an ergometer for supine use for patients who have recently had a flap procedure [2]. The goal of the present project was to create an engaging, interactive video game designed for use during arm ergometry by individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) in either the supine or seated position.

Better know who you are starving with - Judging humanness in a multiplayer video game

Perceived humanness affects how others behave towards artificial agents, and can be examined with imitation games, where participants interact with either a human or an artificial agent and then have to guess who they interacted with. The current experiment uses the multiplayer, socially interactive video game "Don’t Starve Together" to examine whether it is possible for participants (Player 1) to distinguish a human from an artificial agent (Player 2) based on how they make decisions in complex environments. We explore how sensitive participants are at discriminating human from AI behavior, and whether Player 2’s actual and/or perceived humanness has an impact on the participants’ willingness to cooperate with them. The results show that while participants were good at correctly identifying AI behavior, they misidentified the human player with a high likelihood. Cooperation during the game was higher for participants who correctly identified Player 2 (as either human or AI), and participants always preferred to cooperate with Player 2 when they thought they were human. The willingness to cooperate with Player 2 in future interactions was higher when participants misidentified Player 2, and was not impacted by the actual or perceived humanness of Player 2.