Gamified model for learning using association & empathy

• Main Author: Wang, Shu
• Other Authors: Shen Zhiqi
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/74061
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The number of old people is growing rapidly, as well as an increasing number of these elderlies starts to live alone. Because of the increasing age and being disconnected with society, the elderlies usually experience loneliness problem and face health problems that come along with years. One of the most commonly caused diseases is dementia among the elderlies. Studies show that word-association game has a positive effect in improving dexterity to intellectual challenges. Meanwhile, digital action games could also help improve cognitive functions of the elderly. Out of concern for the health issue of the elderly, Empathy Map Game was designed previously as a mobile game with word-association exercises for helping the elderlies. This game takes the form of guessing the riddle and the word-association is performed in images of 4 dimensions – see, feel, say and do. On the purpose of the elderlies’ health care, this project named Unity Image Support App is designed to support the previous project Empathy Map Game. It is for uploading images that players can freely upload images they like and associate four short words with regards to the uploading images. The formulated association words will then facilitate as hints for the users of Empathy Map Game to guess the respective riddle. Except players, there is another kind of users called managers. Players can register their usernames through the registration functions on the interface. After successful registration, players can login first and then upload their images to this application anytime and anywhere when they find an image interesting. The images that players upload need to be audited by managers. Usernames of managers are predefined and cannot be registered through the application interface directly. When managers login, Unity Image Support App would display images that wait for auditing. When the images have correct classifications and they are suitable for being displayed on Empathy Map Game, managers will admit such images, and then these images would be saved into database. Otherwise, managers could deny the uploaded images. As such, these images could set up with a richer database that will not only enrich Empathy Map Game but also help improve the health situation of the elderly and their entertainment life. It has great potential on studies of word association sets generated by players. Further work on this application may include adding more features, such as associating with Empathy Map Game to analyze whether the correct rate of players will gradually increase, as a result of continuous using of our project, which could help analyze whether our game has a positive impact on the brain of the elderly. This will not only complete the player's research and more in-depth analysis of player informations in Empathy Map Game, but also potentially apply these word associations to patients with greater contributions to dementia.