Refine
Year of publication
- 2021 (4) (remove)
Document Type
- Conference Proceeding (4) (remove)
Conference Type
- Konferenzartikel (3)
- Konferenz-Poster (1)
Language
- English (4) (remove)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (4)
Keywords
- Gamification (2)
- Ecercises (1)
- Loneliness (1)
- Movement (1)
- Physiotherapy (1)
- Rehabilitation (1)
- Social isolation (1)
- University students (1)
Institute
- ACI - Affective and Cognitive Institute (4) (remove)
Open Access
- Closed Access (3)
- Open Access (1)
The transition from college to university can have a variety of psychological effects on students who need to cope with daily obligations by themselves in a new setting, which can result in loneliness and social isolation. Mobile technology, specifically mental health apps (MHapps), have been seen as promising solutions to assist university students who are facing these problems, however, there is little evidence around this topic. My research investigates how a mobile app can be designed to reduce social isolation and loneliness among university students. The Noneliness app is being developed to this end; it aims to create social opportunities through a quest-based gamified system in a secure and collaborative network of local users. Initial evaluations with the target audience provided evidence on how an app should be designed for this purpose. These results are presented and how they helped me to plan the further steps to reach my research goals. The paper is presented at MobileHCI 2020 Doctoral Consortium.
Activities for rehabilitation and prevention are often lengthy and associated with pain and frustration. Their playful enrichment (hereafter: gamification) can counteract this, resulting in so-called “exergames”. However, in contrast to games designed solely for entertainment, the increased motivation and immersion in gamified training can lead to a reduced perception of pain and thus to health deterioration. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor activities continuously. However, only an AI-based system able to generate autonomous interventions could vacate the therapists’ costly time and allow better training at home. An automated adjustment of the movement training’s difficulty as well as individualized goal setting and control are essential to achieve such autonomy. This article’s contribution is two-fold: (1) We portray the potentials of gamification in the health area. (2) We present a framework for smart rehabilitation and prevention training allowing autonomous, dynamic, and gamified interactions.
Loneliness, an emotional distress caused by the lack of meaningful social connections, has been increasingly affecting university students who need to deal with everyday situations in a new setting, especially those who have come from abroad. Currently there is little work on digital solutions to reduce loneliness. Therefore, this work describes the general design considerations for mobile apps in this context and outlines a potential solution. The mobile app Noneliness is used to this end: it aims to reduce loneliness by creating social opportunities through a quest-based gamified system in a secure and collaborative network of local users. The results of initial evaluations with the target audience are described. The results informed a user interface redesign as well as a review of the features and the gamification principles adopted.
Social Haptic Communication (SHC) is one of the many tactile modes of communication used by persons with deafblindness to access information about their surroundings. SHC usually involves an interpreter executing finger and hand signs on the back of a person with multi-sensory disabilities. Learning SHC, however, can become challenging and time-consuming, particularly to those who experience deafblindness later in life. In this work, we present PatRec: a mobile game for learning SHC concepts. PatRec is a multiple-choice quiz game connected to a chair interface that contains a 3x3 array of vibration motors emulating different SHC signs. Players collect scores and badges whenever they guess the right SHC vibration pattern, leading to continuous engagement and a better position on a leaderboard. The game is also meant for family members to learn SHC. We report the technical implementation of PatRec and the findings from a user evaluation.