Game-playing for active ageing and healthy lifestyles

Given the increase in the ageing population and the evolvement of the Human-Computer Interaction field to a much more humanistic approach, debate is ongoing about designing technology-enabled products for active ageing and healthy lifestyles. Indeed, the mainstream game industry has been challenged with the emergence of an older target group, the advancements in gamification and the proliferation of SMART devices.
Previous experience in the field has revealed that for many older adult gamers, games had a therapeutic effect through them being both cognitively challenged and rewarded. However it has also revealed that the gaming industry was not fulfilling their other motivations and accessibility needs.
Furthermore, research to date has focused on the physical and cognitive effects of video games in the aging process. Up to now, the use of other active ageing dimensions that go beyond the health domains (i.e. sense of security, and participation in society) in games addressed to this target group remain unexplored.
Topics discussed in the book include:
- Development of products for the Silver Market; - The older adult consumer and the advertisement industry; - Differences between informational literacy and digital inclusion; - Lifestyle-monitoring technologies and technological determinism; - Positive computing and behavioral design; - Game Design and Active Ageing; - Application of games in rehabilitation; - Gamification, Senior Tourism and the wellness market; - Techniques used for assessing games for active ageing
This book differs from current books on the market by focusing on games and the main implications to design for active ageing in terms of the market perspective, the information and communication society, behavioral design, mobility, urban and city planning, accessibility and assessment. The information presented in this book not only relies on case studies but also on the authors' previous experience in co-designing digitally-mediated products with both adult learners at the Universities of the Third Age and older adults at retirement homes.

Dr. Ana Isabel Veloso is the Dean of the Department of Communication and Art of the University of Aveiro and member of the DigiMedia Research Center. Throughout the years, Ana Veloso has been supervising many students of master's and doctoral degree levels. She has also been the coordinator of many research projects, such as SEDUCE 2.0, SEDUCE, EYES ON GAMES and IMP.cubed. She did her Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Technologies at the University of Aveiro. Before her doctoral studies, in 2006, she obtained her MSc in Biomedical Engineering and bachelor's in Informatics Engineering from the University of Coimbra. Her research interests include video games, gerontechnology and other applications of information and communication in technological mediated contexts.

Game-playing for active ageing and healthy lifestyles