Cognitive exercise game for elderly

• Main Author: Thian, Wen An
• Other Authors: Tan Ah Hwee
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Computer science and engineering::Software::Software engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/74055
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Dementia is an irreversible condition that eventually inflicted the old. However, it was discovered that the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a pre-cursor to dementia was recoverable when treated early. Multiple forms of treatment have since surfaced: brain training games, Kinect-based games, cognitive therapies and dual-task training. Studies have shown that they were superior in terms of both cost and long-term benefits. Dual-Task Training especially, exhibits prominent prospect which prompted the motivation of the project: to develop a dual-tasking game which targets the elderlies and aid them in improving both cognition and motor skills. The project completed with one unimplemented feature due to time constraints and technical challenges. Ultimately, a game was developed which fulfilled the main project objectives. The premise of the game was to put players in a dual-task environment. Players were given two types of task: Picture-Taking Task (PTT) and True/False Question Task (TFQT). PTT requires the players to search around the room for a prompted household item. While PTT was ongoing, players were also required to complete as many TFQTs as possible. TFQT comes in a form of a simple true/false question “popping-up” onto the screen display at an interval. Lastly, a single playthrough of the game completes once the players had finished 3 PTT. Data would also be collected unobtrusively during the playthrough and sent to a back-end server for record purposes.