Title :
A gamified application for assessment of balance and fall prevention
Author :
Vieira, Bruno ; Pereira, Luis ; Freitas, Ricardo ; Terroso, Miguel ; Simoes, Ricardo
Author_Institution :
Polytech. Inst. of Cavado, Barcelos, Portugal
Abstract :
This paper describes the development of a novel gamified application for fall prevention. The gaming system can help people in risk of falling, such as the senior population, assess their condition. A standard balance assessment test was select, which is termed the Berg Balance Scale. We have adapted it to the form of a digital game and thus enable the elderly to perform it at home, independently, and in a more friendly way. This game evaluates the body posture of the elderly through a wearable sensor that can analyze body motion through the acceleration and angle of the movements performed during the test. After playing through the game, the elderly is given a score in terms of his risk of falling. In the future, the game will be expanded to also recommend a set of exercises for the player to perform regularly in order to decrease the risk of falling.
Keywords :
assisted living; computer games; handicapped aids; wearable computers; Berg Balance Scale; balance assessment test; digital game; elderly population; fall prevention assessment; gamified application; wearable sensor; Androids; Animation; Foot; Games; Senior citizens; Sociology; Statistics; balance assessment; fall prevention; risk of falling; serious games;
Conference_Titel :
Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI), 2015 10th Iberian Conference on
Conference_Location :
Aveiro
DOI :
10.1109/CISTI.2015.7170473