Bob-Antoine Jerry Menelas

Developing serious games specifically adapted to people suffering from alzheimer

To face new challenges caused by society aging, several researchers have initiated the experimentation of serious games as a re-education platform to help slowing down the decline of people suffering from Alzheimer. In the last few years, academic studies have been conducted and some commercial products (Nintendos Brain Age, Big Brain Academy, etc.) have emerged. Nevertheless, these initiatives suffer from multiple important limitations since they do not really suit perceptual and interaction needs of silver-aged gamers, more specifically people suffering from Alzheimer disease. In an effort to address this important issue, we present in this paper a set of specific guidelines for designing and implementing effective serious games targeting silver-aged and Alzheimers patients. Our guidelines cover the following aspects: (i) choosing right in-game challenges, (ii) designing appropriate interaction mechanisms for cognitively impaired people, (iii) implementing artificial intelligence for providing adequate assistive prompting and dynamic difficulty adjustments, (iv) producing effective visual and auditory assets to maximize cognitive training. Also, as a case study, we present the prototype of our new serious game for Alzheimers patients.

Toward an augmented shoe for preventing falls related to physical conditions of the soil

It is known that the physical conditions of an environment might represent an important risk of falling. In this paper, we report an ongoing project toward the creation of intelligent clothes aiming at preventing falls related to such conditions. The package described here is centered on an intelligent shoe. The developed prototype counts two main parts: hardware and software. The material is composed of a set of sensors and actuators, distributed in strategic positions of the shoe, while the software is a soft real-time system running on a Smartphone. Our prototype has been served for the differentiation of physical properties of soils (concrete, broken stone, sand and dust stone).

Design of a serious game for learning vibrotactile messages

To prevent accidental falls, we have designed an augmented shoe aiming at assisting a user when walking. For this, the risk level (low, medium, high and very high) represented by the current situation is conveyed to the user through vibrotactile messages. In this paper, we describe the design of a serious game dedicated to learning of these signals. The game is centered on a virtual maze, whose parts are associated with the four risk levels. To explore this maze, fitted with a pair of the augmented shoes, the user is invited to walk in a room, completely empty, whose dimensions are mapped to those of the virtual maze. When moving, for each area explored the corresponding signal is delivered to the user through the augmented shoes. An initial experiment confirmed the idea that vibrotactile messages can serve for communicating the level of risk.

Non-visual identification, localization, and selection of entities of interest in a 3D environment

This paper addresses the use of audio and haptics as a mean to reduce the load of the visual channel in interaction tasks within virtual environments. An examination is made regarding the exploitation of audio and/or haptic interactions for the acquisition of a target of interest in an environment containing multiple and obscured distractors. A first study compares means for identifying and locating a specified target among others employing either audio, haptic, or both sensori-motor channels activated simultaneously. Following an analysis of the results and subject comments, an improved multimodal approach is proposed and evaluated in a second study, combining advantages offered by each sensory channel. Results confirm the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed multimodal approach.

Towards an automatic version of the Berg balance scale test through a serious game

Considering the current pyramidal age of developed countries it appears that there is a need for tools that can automatically evaluate a persons ability to maintain balance. Proposed system, is a serious game running on the Android OS. It uses an augmented sole in order to measure movements realized by the user. For this evaluation, the same exercises proposed in the Berg Balance Scale are used; however they do receive a more motivating and engaging appeal through several events. When using the proposed system, a detailed analysis of the movements realized by the user can be done.

A serious game for training balance control over different types of soil

It is known that the type of the soil can affect balance. Here we report a serious game designed for training users at maintaining balance over five types of soil (broken stone, stone dust, sand, concrete and wood). By using an augmented shoe and proposed navigation metaphor, in this game, the user is invited to browse a maze while standing balance over the physical grounds. During the exploration, exercises targeting assessment of balance control are suggested. To insure the effectiveness of this training program, four exercises based on the Berg Balance Scale and the Tinetti Balance Assessment Tool are incorporated in the game.

Effect of Ecological Gestures on the Immersion of the Player in a Serious Game

In the last decade, several researches have promoted the use of serious games in the medical field. Such solutions are generally played with ecological interfaces in order to attract elderly. It is unclear whether or not these controllers make their respective games more immersive. In this paper, we report the first step of our ongoing research toward the understanding of the relationship between the use of tangible interface with ecological gesture recognition and the immersion level of a serious game adapted for individuals affected by Alzheimer’s disease. This first step of our project aimed at investigating the impact of such an interface with healthy people. Initial results suggest that the use of such a controller does not impact the immersion score of the game. Nevertheless, findings indicate it may increase the immersion score when the player has not an extensive contact with video games.

Home-Based Risk of Falling Assessment Test Using a Closed-Loop Balance Model.

The aim of this study is to improve and facilitate the methods used to assess risk of falling at home among older people through the computation of a risk of falling in real time in daily activities. In order to increase a real time computation of the risk of falling, a closed-loop balance model is proposed and compared with One-Leg Standing Test (OLST). This balance model allows studying the postural response of a person having an unpredictable perturbation. Twenty-nine volunteers participated in this study for evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed system which includes seventeen elder participants: ten healthy elderly (68.4 ±5.5 years), seven Parkinsons disease (PD) subjects (66.28 ±8.9 years), and twelve healthy young adults (28.27 ±3.74 years). Our work suggests that there is a relationship between OLST score and the risk of falling based on center of pressure measurement with four low cost force sensors located inside an instrumented insole, which could be predicted using our suggested closed-loop balance model. For long term monitoring at home, this system could be included in a medical electronic record and could be useful as a diagnostic aid tool.

Use of an enactive insole for reducing the risk of falling on different types of soil using vibrotactile cueing for the elderly

Background Our daily activities imply displacements on various types of soil. For persons with gait disorder or losing functional autonomy, walking on some types of soil could be challenging because of the risk of falling it represents. Methods In this paper, we present, in a first part, the use of an enactive shoe for an automatic differentiation of several types of soil. In a second part, using a second improved prototype (an enactive insole), twelve participants with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and nine age-matched controls have performed the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test on six types of soil with and without cueing. The frequency of the cueing was set at 10% above the cadence computed at the lower risk of falling (walking over the concrete). Depending on the cadence computed at the lower risk, the enactive insole activates a vibrotactile cueing aiming to improve gait and balance control. Finally, a risk index is computed using gait parameters in relation to given type of soil. Results The frequency analysis of the heel strike vibration allows the differentiation of various types of soil. The risk computed is associated to an appropriate rhythmic cueing in order to improve balance and gait impairment. The results show that a vibrotactile cueing could help to reduce the risk of falling. Conclusions Firstly, this paper demonstrates the feasibility of reducing the risk of falling while walking on different types of soil using vibrotactile cueing. We found a significant difference and a significant decrease in the computed risks of falling for most of types of soil especially for deformable soils which can lead to fall. Secondly, heel strike provides an approximation of the impulse response of the soil that can be analyzed with time and frequency-domain modeling. From these analyses, an index is computed enabling differentiation the types of soil.

Gamification of a Truck-Driving Simulator for the Care of People Suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Victims of fatal injured accidents involving large trucks are mainly non-occupants of the trucks more than 80i¾?%. Therefore, it appears that truck drivers who had accidents are likely to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder while no research does address this need. This paper tackles this point by the mean of an exposition therapy through the use of Virtual Reality technologies. Our main contribution concerns the fact that we do not only exploit Virtual Reality to expose the user. We do create an environment that offers to the patient the possibility to act in order to recover his ability to face the traumatic situation. For this, we rely on the game mechanics and the personalization of the virtual environment to bring the trucker to be active while being exposed to the cues that are related to its fear. Doing so, he should reactivate his capacities and thus be able to act differently in such a traumatic situation.