This section discusses the implications of the findings of this dissertation beyond motion- based video games for older adults, with a focus on their application for older adult audiences in a broader context, and how they extend to other audiences with special needs.
10.2.1 Applications Beyond Games
With information technology becoming pervasive in daily life, it is important to ensure the accessibility of new technologies for older adults. In this dissertation, we have demonstrated that motion-based controls can be applied in an accessible and enjoyable way, and our results can help inform the implementation of motion-based interaction beyond games, for instance to facilitate user interaction in home entertainment or to support ambient-assisted living solutions.
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In the context of ambient-assisted living, Chapter 4 suggests that differences between controller-based and hands-free input solutions are likely to play a bigger role: while controller- based interaction offers additional input options through buttons, it always requires active participation of the user. In contrast, hands-free systems offer the possibility of augmenting the interaction process by including passive input, which can be obtained by sensing user location, posture, and the changes therein. Further research should explore the development of senior- friendly gestures and input methodologies to foster the integration of motion-based controls beyond gaming.
Additionally, gestures and guidelines as proposed in Chapters 5, 6, and 7 can be applied in other areas where older adults are required to interact with information systems and generally contribute to facilitation of their interaction with information technology. For instance, the implementation of gestures in ambient-assisted living has the potential of supporting older adults when interacting with information systems in their home environment. Tasks such as the motion- based control of home electronics (e.g., controlling lights or television) could greatly facilitate everyday life. In this context, applying appropriate interaction paradigms, e.g., the gesture set provided in this thesis, can support the independence of older adults and allow them to continue living in their home environment even when experiencing age-related changes. Furthermore, institutionalized older adults might benefit from gesture-based interaction in daily life if routine tasks such as opening or closing doors can be augmented by motion-controlled interaction.
10.2.2 Extending Our Findings to Other Audiences
Certain aspects of the work presented in this dissertation extend to other audiences with special needs. Creating motion-based game interfaces that can accommodate a wide range of skills and abilities does not only improve their accessibility for older adults, but also for other individuals with cognitive disabilities or mobility disabilities. In this context, one particularly interesting design opportunity is the creation of wheelchair-accessible motion-based video games for audiences beyond older adults.
The gestures and guidelines we have presented in Chapter 5 and Chapter 7 are specifically designed to aid designers to build games for older adults who experience a wide range of physical and cognitive age-related changes. However, the same gestures and guidelines can be applied, in a general way, to games that are designed with full-body motion control in mind. If our guidelines are used in the development of any game, then players with other
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impairments will be able to enjoy these games. For example, players in wheelchairs or who experience other physical limitations would still be able to participate in these games. Also, games for young children with little motor control would benefit from simple gesture-based controls.
Additionally, our results particularly addressing wheelchair-based game controls can be applied to keep motion-based video games accessible for players of all ages with mobility disabilities. The evaluation of the KINECTWheels toolkit presented in Chapter 6 show that
younger able-bodied people enjoy wheelchair-based controls, and consider the use of a manual wheelchair to interact with video games an interesting experience. In this context, wheelchair- based game controls could also be leveraged to raise awareness for topics such as wheelchair accessibility of public places and foster understanding of problems that people using wheelchairs experience, e.g., by creating mini games that illustrate the inaccessibility of different areas of life. Such games could be applied to educate the general public by inviting them to experience the world from someone else’s perspective [27]. In this context, wheelchair-based games are a great opportunity for engaging students, and encouraging them to consider challenges that their peers who use wheelchairs have to face on a daily basis, thus fostering an understanding of accessibility issues. A major limitation of many motion-based video games that address younger audiences and implement camera-based input devices such as the Microsoft Kinect is that they are not fully accessible to players using wheelchairs; although some games can be calibrated to work for players sitting on a chair, players using wheelchairs will not be able to engage with motion-based video games that require players to move around in the room. The KINECTWheels
toolkit that was developed as part of this dissertation can be applied to create motion-based video games for children and teenagers using wheelchairs that encourage physical activity beyond simple upper body movements. Results of our work on balancing video games for players of different skills and abilities [70] suggest that persons using wheelchairs enjoy playing motion- based games using their wheelchair as input device. This suggests that it is possible to embrace the abilities of the target audience [177] rather than making limited subsets of interaction paradigms of existing games accessible, thus allowing persons using wheelchairs to obtain the full benefits of exergame play.
Motion-based games have a wide range of benefits on the cognitive, physical and emotional well-being of players. This dissertation examines the design, implementation, and
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deployment of motion-based games with a focus on allowing older adults in long-term care to obtain these benefits. The results show that motion-based game interaction can be designed in a way that is accessible and enjoyable for older adults. Furthermore, findings demonstrate that motion-based video game play is beneficial for this audience, highlighting the large potential of video games to contribute to the quality of life of audiences with special needs.
While these findings address the basic challenges outlined in Chapter 3 of this dissertation, the results also raise new questions and provide opportunities for additional research, hence a number of exciting challenges for future work remain.
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