Exergaming

Serious gaming may sound contradictory when it comes to elderly healthcare.

But the publication “Play on, serious gaming for a new generation of elderly” (in Dutch, STT, 2011) clearly showed that there is a future in serious gaming for seniors to enhance both social, physical and mental wellbeing. The advantage of serious games is that they can be used in a playful way, in the well-known situation at home.

While the user works with the game to improve her of his balance, the equipment can measure whether the exercise is properly executed and can adjust itself accordingly. It can also encourage the user and in case of an emergency, a caretaker can be warned.

What was the role of Creative Care Lab in this project?

Creative Care Lab collaborated with the Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen (UMCG) in the development of an exergame (stemming from exercise and gaming) to train balance for elderly people to reduce the chances of falling. In this project we worked according to an iterative design process, following our 'Users as designers' principle: concepts and prototypes were created through co-creation with users from the target group.