Developing serious games to promote cognitive abilities for the elderly

摘要

This paper presents the design of a computerized serious game suite called the “Smart Thinker”, which is used to enhance core cognitive skills. The focus is specifically on memory and attention skills. Smart Thinker empowers older adults to exercise their brains and achieve their maximum cognitive performance. To achieve this objective, a thorough study was completed on 59 older adults who were randomly separated as participants of a controlled group or an intervention group. The 20 participants within the controlled group did not play Smart Thinker and were not surveyed. The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was administered to both groups at the beginning and ending of the six week period. The measuring tool was administered under the guidance of licensed clinical social workers of the Alzheimer's Project and was used to determine whether Smart Thinker had an effect on the participants' cognitive functioning. This game research revealed a significant improvement in the cognitive skills of the intervention group who used Smart Thinker Game compared to the controlled group who did not play Smart Thinker.