Research Article
SmartAgeing: a 3D serious game for early detection of mild cognitive impairments
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2014.255334, author={Dani Tost and Ariel von Barnekow and Eloy Felix and Stefania Pazzi and Stefano Puricelli and Sara Bottiroli}, title={SmartAgeing: a 3D serious game for early detection of mild cognitive impairments}, proceedings={REHAB 2014}, publisher={ICST}, proceedings_a={REHAB}, year={2014}, month={7}, keywords={\{serious games mild cognitive impairments ageing screening}, doi={10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2014.255334} }
- Dani Tost
Ariel von Barnekow
Eloy Felix
Stefania Pazzi
Stefano Puricelli
Sara Bottiroli
Year: 2014
SmartAgeing: a 3D serious game for early detection of mild cognitive impairments
REHAB
ICST
DOI: 10.4108/icst.pervasivehealth.2014.255334
Abstract
We describe Smart Ageing, a serious game in a 3D virtual environment aimed at the early detection of Mild Cognitive Impairments in persons ageing between 50 and 80, and at assessing cognitive impairments in persons already diagnosed or having neurodegenerative dementia. Smart Ageing is a telematic system in which users realize a set of screening tests structured in five daily-life tasks in a familiar environment addressing various cognitive skills: memory, executive functions, divided attention, short-term and long-term memory and spatial orientation and attention. The game integrates novel accessibility features to make it usable by seniors. Several indexes of evaluation are registered while users perform the test, that provide a complete picture of the user's behavior during the game. The design and implementation of the game has been realized following a user-centered agile methodology that has allowed to refine the tasks and enhance the technology throughout the development stage. The game is currently in a validation stage on a sample of 1000 users. The results of the electronic test are been compared to standard pen-based tests. We except that the validation will confirm Smart Ageing as a powerful screening tool for the early detection of cognitive impairments on a wide scale, otherwise impossible using the traditional pen-based test.