Can a Game improve People’s Life?

The case of Serious GamesArmir Bujari, Matteo Ciman,

Ombretta Gaggi, Claudio E. PalazziDepartment of Mathematics

University of Padua, Italy{abujari, mciman, gaggi, cpalazzi}@math.unipd.it

GOODTECHS 2015Rome, Italy

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Serious Games

• Teach something (serious) in a funny way (game)

Exergames

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Exergames

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DroidGlove - Idea

• Rehabilitation therapy of a limb is usually based on the same sequence of movements for several times– Many times– Should be done correctly

!! BORING !!

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DroidGlove

• First step visit to the doctor• The therapist defines the set of

exercises• The patient can exercise

wherever and whenever he/she wants and send data to the doctor

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Sedentary life and bad nutrition are increasing overweight people

Increasing number of diseases like diabetes, cancer etc.

Higher medical costs

Unhealthy lifestyle

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ClimbTheWorld

ClimbTheWorld

SoloClimb SocialChallenge Team vs. Team

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Serious games

in the medical field

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Re-Mission

• Game for children with cancer developed by the University of Stanford and HopeLab

Objectives:– Explain to the patient his/her situation– Reduce the drop out from therapy phenomena– Let patients communicate together

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Re-Mission

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PlayWithEyes

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PlayWithEyes

• Standard visual acuity tests are extremely boring for children

• Necessary to get child attention to be able to perform an accurate diagnosis

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PlayWithEyes at work

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CVI – Cerebral Visual Impairment

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Lesson learnt – The team

The team is composed by people with completely different backgrounds:• Doctor: knows the disease and how to treat it.

Defines the requirements of the game• Psychologist: helps in defining the game, with

particular attention to the user• Developer: knows the technology, designs and

develops the game

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Team collaboration

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The team

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Can a Game improve People’s Life?

The case of Serious GamesArmir Bujari, Matteo Ciman,

Ombretta Gaggi, Claudio E. PalazziDepartment of Mathematics

University of Padua, Italy{abujari, mciman, gaggi, cpalazzi}@math.unipd.it

GOODTECHS 2015Rome, Italy