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HCI Games Group

Researching Affective Systems and Engaging Interactions

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Project Details

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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 Kappen
Ph.D. Graduate, Game Design and User Interaction for Older Adults
Lennart Nacke
Director of the HCI Games Group

Members

Henk-Jan de Groot
Lab Intern, Server Magician, and Specialist of Nontraditional Time Zones
Dennis Kappen
Ph.D. Graduate, Game Design and User Interaction for Older Adults
Samantha Stahlke
Lab Assistant, Charlatan of Doom, Official Comma Wrangler of the HCI Games Group
Lennart Nacke
Director of the HCI Games Group

Publications


Proceedings

Motivational Affordances for Older Adults’ Physical Activity Technology: An Expert Evaluation

Dennis Kappen, Pejman Mirza-Babaei, and Lennart Nacke. 2019. Motivational Affordances for Older Adults’ Physical Activity Technology: An Expert Evaluation. In Human-Computer Interaction. Perspectives on Design. Proceedings of HCI International 2019. LNCS 11566. Springer.
PDFBibTeXAbstract
@inproceedings{Kappen2019b,
abstract = {Gamification has become popular as a behavior change strategy to increase the motivation and engagement of users in a health and wellness applications. Motivational affordances or gamification elements can help to foster intrinsic or extrinsic motivation for an activity as mundane as achieving fitness and wellness goals. Research indicates that there are many motivations among older adults for playing digital games and exergames to encourage physical activity (PA). However, very few specific gamification elements (motivational affordances) have been defined for technology artifacts pertinent to older adults' physical activity (PA). We designed Spirit50, a gamified PA technology app and conducted an expert evaluation using long form questionnaires and the Heuristics Evaluation for Gameful Design instrument. Content analysis and comparisons of expert ratings of the heuristics provided specific insights into motivational affordances for older adults' PA technology.},
author = {Kappen, Dennis L and Mirza-Babaei, Pejman and Nacke, Lennart E},
booktitle = {Human-Computer Interaction. Perspectives on Design. Proceedings of HCI International 2019. LNCS 11566},
publisher = {Springer},
title = {{Motivational Affordances for Older Adults' Physical Activity Technology: An Expert Evaluation}},
year = {2019}
}
Gamification has become popular as a behavior change strategy to increase the motivation and engagement of users in a health and wellness applications. Motivational affordances or gamification elements can help to foster intrinsic or extrinsic motivation for an activity as mundane as achieving fitness and wellness goals. Research indicates that there are many motivations among older adults for playing digital games and exergames to encourage physical activity (PA). However, very few specific gamification elements (motivational affordances) have been defined for technology artifacts pertinent to older adults’ physical activity (PA). We designed Spirit50, a gamified PA technology app and conducted an expert evaluation using long form questionnaires and the Heuristics Evaluation for Gameful Design instrument. Content analysis and comparisons of expert ratings of the heuristics provided specific insights into motivational affordances for older adults’ PA technology.

Proceedings

Adaptive Engagement of Older Adults’ Fitness through Gamification

Dennis 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
PDFDOIBibTeXAbstract
@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.
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