Creating an Adaptive Gamified Online Service for Older Adults
The HCI Games Group collaborated with Vintage Fitness, a Toronto based health and wellness company catering to the fitness training needs of adults of age 50 years and older through an NSERC Engage grant. Vintage Fitness aimed to engage older adults in daily exercise routines by catering to the specialized needs of the demographic and tailoring fitness routines based on health conditions of older adults. The HCI Games Group studied the motivations of older adults to engage in physical activities through empirical research focused on their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to participate in physical activities.
People
Lead
Dennis KappenPh.D. Student, Game Design and User Interaction for Older Adults Participants
Henk-Jan de GrootLab Intern, Server Magician, and Specialist of Nontraditional Time Zones Dennis KappenPh.D. Student, Game Design and User Interaction for Older Adults 
Samantha StahlkeLab Assistant, Charlatan of Doom, Official Comma Wrangler of the HCI Games Group
Publications
Year 2015
Dennis L. Kappen. 2015. Adaptive Engagement of Older Adults’ Fitness through Gamification. In
Proceedings of CHI PLAY 2015. London, United Kingdom. ACM.
doi:10.1145/2793107.2810276 @inproceedings{Kappen2015,
Abstract = {Many older adults lead sedentary lifestyles, as the challenges of aging can complicate efforts to maintain a healthy level of physical activity. These challenges can include decreasing strength, reduced mental capacity, social isolation, and the development of chronic health conditions. My PhD research attempts to analyze the needs and challenges of older adults and review their attitudes and motivations towards physical activity (PA). Furthermore, I aim to investigate various approaches in the development of socially interactive fitness activity programs, with the goal of increasing positive lifestyle motivations and quality of life (QoL). This research defines a taxonomy of motivational and personality characteristics of older adults to engage in PA. Lastly, this dissertation proposes the development of an adaptive application that addresses fitness gamification from the motivational perspective of an older adult. This application will empower older adults to engage in PA as a means to gain freedom, mobility and social interdependence within their public spheres.},
Address = {London, United Kingdom},
Author = {D. L. Kappen},
Booktitle = {Proceedings of chi play 2015},
Doi = {10.1145/2793107.2810276},
File = {::},
Img = {http://hcigames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/DC.jpg},
Isbn = {9781450334662},
Keywords = {elderly,entertainment technology,game design,gamification,human factors,interaction design,older adults,social interaction,usability},
Publisher = {ACM},
Title = {Adaptive Engagement of Older Adults’ Fitness through Gamification},
Url = {https://hcigames.com/download/adaptive-engagement-of-older-adults-fitness-through-gamification},
Year = {2015},@inproceedings{Kappen2015,Many older adults lead sedentary lifestyles, as the challenges of aging can complicate efforts to maintain a healthy level of physical activity. These challenges can include decreasing strength, reduced mental capacity, social isolation, and the development of chronic health conditions. My PhD research attempts to analyze the needs and challenges of older adults and review their attitudes and motivations towards physical activity (PA). Furthermore, I aim to investigate various approaches in the development of socially interactive fitness activity programs, with the goal of increasing positive lifestyle motivations and quality of life (QoL). This research defines a taxonomy of motivational and personality characteristics of older adults to engage in PA. Lastly, this dissertation proposes the development of an adaptive application that addresses fitness gamification from the motivational perspective of an older adult. This application will empower older adults to engage in PA as a means to gain freedom, mobility and social interdependence within their public spheres.
