Vasiliki I. Zilidou

Design, Implementation, and Wide Pilot Deployment of FitForAll: An Easy to use Exergaming Platform Improving Physical Fitness and Life Quality of Senior Citizens

Many platforms have emerged as response to the call for technology supporting active and healthy aging. Key requirements for any such e-health systems and any subsequent business exploitation are tailor-made design and proper evaluation. This paper presents the design, implementation, wide deployment, and evaluation of the low cost, physical exercise, and gaming (exergaming) FitForAll (FFA) platform system usability, user adherence to exercise, and efficacy are explored. The design of FFA is tailored to elderly populations, distilling literature guidelines and recommendations. The FFA architecture introduces standard physical exercise protocols in exergaming software engineering, as well as, standard physical assessment tests for augmented adaptability through adjustable exercise intensity. This opens up the way to next generation exergaming software, which may be more automatically/smartly adaptive. 116 elderly users piloted FFA five times/week, during an eight-week controlled intervention. Usability evaluation was formally conducted (SUS, SUMI questionnaires). Control group consisted of a size-matched elderly group following cognitive training. Efficacy was assessed objectively through the senior fitness (Fullerton) test, and subjectively, through WHOQoL-BREF comparisons of pre-postintervention between groups. Adherence to schedule was measured by attendance logs. The global SUMI score was 68.33±5.85%, while SUS was 77.7. Good usability perception is reflected in relatively high adherence of 82% for a daily two months pilot schedule. Compared to control group, elderly using FFA improved significantly strength, flexibility, endurance, and balance while presenting a significant trend in quality of life improvements. This is the first elderly focused exergaming platform intensively evaluated with more than 100 participants. The use of formal tools makes the findings comparable to other studies and forms an elderly exergaming corpus.

Gains in cognition through combined cognitive and physical training: the role of training dosage and severity of neurocognitive disorder.

Physical as well as cognitive training interventions improve specific cognitive functions but effects barely generalize on global cognition. Combined physical and cognitive training may overcome this shortcoming as physical training may facilitate the neuroplastic potential which, in turn, may be guided by cognitive training. This study aimed at investigating the benefits of combined training on global cognition while assessing the effect of training dosage and exploring the role of several potential effect modifiers. In this multi-center study, 322 older adults with or without neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) were allocated to a computerized, game-based, combined physical and cognitive training group (n = 237) or a passive control group (n = 85). Training group participants were allocated to different training dosages ranging from 24 to 110 potential sessions. In a pre-post-test design, global cognition was assessed by averaging standardized performance in working memory, episodic memory and executive function tests. The intervention group increased in global cognition compared to the control group, p = 0.002, Cohen’s d = 0.31. Exploratory analysis revealed a trend for less benefits in participants with more severe NCD, p = 0.08 (cognitively healthy: d = 0.54; mild cognitive impairment: d = 0.19; dementia: d = 0.04). In participants without dementia, we found a dose-response effect of the potential number and of the completed number of training sessions on global cognition, p = 0.008 and p = 0.04, respectively. The results indicate that combined physical and cognitive training improves global cognition in a dose-responsive manner but these benefits may be less pronounced in older adults with more severe NCD. The long-lasting impact of combined training on the incidence and trajectory of NCDs in relation to its severity should be assessed in future long-term trials.

Towards Multi-parametric Hub Scoring of Functional Cortical Brain Networks: An Electroencephalographic (EEG) Study Across Lifespan

The attractiveness and robustness of graph theory has stimulated an unprecedented increase in studies aiming to understand the functional organization and dynamics of the brain. The investigation of brain connectomics produces a tremendous amount of data which may be examined at both a macroscopic and microscopic level. However, the interpretation of findings is still challenging. Novel methodological approaches should enhance the arsenal of the tools employed towards the understanding of the interaction of the distinct brain components. So, in this paper we propose a multi-parametric approach to identify cortical components that co-ordinate the activity of specific sub-networks and converge the information integration to a global network level. It also provides a quantification of the hubs strength, which may be useful to investigate how hubs develop and change across the life-span. Thus, it is hypothesized the proposed methodology could serve as a robust outcome measure for identifying the benefits of traditional dance intervention in terms of functional re-organization and neuroplasticity.

Virtual Scenarios for Stealth Assessment of the Elderly: Perceptions and Acceptance of Technology-Based Health and Wellness Interventions

As adults get older, the risks are increasing on their health, such as chronic diseases, functional decline and geriatric syndromes which threaten their well-being. Technology has many features to support aging wellness enabling older people maintaining healthy and sociable as they grow. However, the needs of the elderly of the population are not always the same. Stealth assessment, coming from the educational domain, can assess such needs. Virtual scenarios, interactive simulation technologies that recreate realistic scenarios combined with novel and effective interaction modalities such as dialogue integrations are contemporary means for such endeavors. Thus, coalescing all these axes and disciplines this work aims to explore the applicability of a dialogue based virtual scenario stealth assessment approach for evaluating the perceptions of elderly towards technology based health interventions. Utilizing a simple dialogue based authoring and deployment platform a simple scenario was devised. 21 elderly, aged 60-80 (6 males, 15 females) run the scenario and filled out a validator questionnaire for their perceptions towards technology. Correlation was discovered between the devised instrument and the elderlys desire to use technology in everyday life. These results provide the necessary foundations for refining future iteration of such stealth assessment instruments with Evidence Centered Design Principles.

Technology’s Role on Physical Activity for Elderly People

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of two physical exercise interventions in the elderly, one with the traditional way of exercising and the other with the use of new technologies and by comparing the two interventions and evaluating the most beneficial effects in their functioning ability and their quality of life. The exercise protocols included activities to improve aerobic capacity, muscle strength, mobility (flexibility) and coordination skills (balance). Forty-four elderly women aged 60–80 years old agreed to participate, grouped by twenty-two elderly in each intervention. They evaluated at baseline (pre assessment), as well as at the end of the intervention (post assessment). Both interventions took place at Day Care Centers and lasted 10–12 weeks (min 30 sessions, 2–3 times/week, 60’). The results of this study are in line with the reports of similar studies of the last decade pertaining to the positive role of the physical exercise and the exergames to the psychological well-being and quality of life in older adults. Both interventions revealed the improvement of body functions and balance associated with daily activities, improve their physical and mental health and therefore quality of their life.

The Effect of a 12 Week Reaction Time Training Using Active Video Game Tennis Attack on Reaction Time and Tennis Performance

Reaction time is one of human abilities that involves in physical activity almost in all sports and it is important factor to winning when an athlete dominate others. Tennis Attack is an interactive 3D video game, which promises to improve response time of, including but not limited to, athletes using entertainment as its vehicle. The aim of the present study was to identify if Tennis Attack can improve the reaction time of the video game player and to explore if a possible improvement on reaction time affects the performance in tennis. The sample is consisted of 42 male undergraduate students. The sample divided into two groups. The first group (N = 20) was the experimental group and the other (N = 22) was the control group. Both groups attended two-hour tennis lessons once a week. All participants, at baseline and at end line, played Tennis Attack in order to examine their reaction time. The experimental group also played Tennis Attack for half an hour 2 times a week, as intervention. Additionally, both groups, at base line and at end line performed the Hitting Accuracy Tennis Test in order to evaluate their performance on tennis strokes. After the intervention, as regards reaction time, both groups showed an improvement in reaction time. Concerning tennis performance, the experimental group showed significant higher scores at means than the control group. Concerning tennis serve performance score both groups mentioned higher mean scores, although there were no significant differences between two groups. With respect to groundstrokes performance, after intervention, the experimental group mentioned significant better scores.

Gamified and Online Activities for Learning to Support Dual Career of Athletes (GOAL)

Dual careers defined as enabling education or work, promote the attainment of a new career after the sporting career, and protect and safeguard the position of athletes. The success of dual career arrangements is largely dependent on individual, personalised pathways enabled through the use of rich-mediated technologies that will facilitate athlete’s effort to adapt to the changing employment needs. GOAL (Gamified and Online Activities for Learning to support dual career of athletes, http://goal.csd.auth.gr/) will effectively start dual careers for athletes embracing their awareness to balance sport training and education and, at a later stage, sport training and employment.