GATE | Game research for training and entertainment

GATE Innovative Pilot: Healthcare
Within GATE, a number of innovative pilot projects will be carried out. These pilot projects have as main goal raising awareness of the potential of the application of games and game technology in the domains of education, healthcare, and public safety. These topics were chosen, since we strongly believe that gaming can make a difference in these domains. In developing these prototypes we will establish collaboration between various disciplines: game-designers, creative artists, educational specialists, subject-matter experts in the specific domains etc.
The pilot healthcare focuses on developing a playful communication system that supports affective communication between people that share a close or intimate connection, but who are not in the same location. The pilot will focus on hospitalized children, separated from their family, friends and classmates. Will playful, non-verbal remote communication with loved ones contribute to a child's well being?

Playful Affective Communication
Children with a serious illness spend their time in and out health care institutions, thus missing a lot of normal and everyday interaction with their family, friends, sport pals, etc. According to doctors, it is essential for them to live as normal a life as possible, without a constant focus on being ill. Being a funny, nice, angry, happy child is essential, not the fact that this child accidentally happens to be sick.

Scottie

Scottie may be a critical tool to help accomplish this goal. During the pilot healthcare Waag Society and partners develop several prototypes to research the effect of playful, affective, non-verbal communication on a person's well being.

Scottie
Scottie is the first prototype, developed by Waag Society. The Scottie prototype focuses on the effect of creating a shared non-verbal language between participants in different locations. Affective, non-verbal and implicit forms of communication are tremendously important for establishing and keeping personal relations. How can distance communication still be personalized affectively?
Children are enabled to play, using light and sound, with friends and family. They are enabled to communicate affectively, without using words. At the same time parents are enabled to let their child know: 'I think of you' or 'I am nearby in thoughts'.

scottie glowing

Within the GATE framework Waag Society will research the impact of game principles on affective communication, addressing sensorial affects and human relations and the impact of non-verbal, affective communication on a person's well being

Further Research
Although the pilot healthcare will focus on children in- and outside healthcare institutions, the acquired knowledge will transfer to other domains, such as:

Elderly people who are socially and/or emotionally isolated;
People in rehabilitation centers;
Spinal cord lesion patients.

Since the importance of affective, non-verbal communication is widely known to be of high importance for (sick) children, another challenge in this project lies in the introduction of devices, such as wearables which will enable exactly this form of communication.

The next step consists of further research on the following assumptions:

Continuity of emotional communication contributes to a feeling of well-being of patients (and their social environment);
Continuity of the social relationships makes the re-integration (in their family routines, school system, social surroundings) after the illness or treatment easier;
Play is an important way to have fun whilst also expressing feelings and building relationships.

Expected Results
A proof-of-concept environment, validated with children in- and outside hospitals, in which a combination of self-expression, learning and affective communication is created. This environment will facilitate their development as a person, not
necessarily as a sick person, and will help to bridge the gap for these children between their life in and outside health care. Children are worth such an environment!

Partners
This research theme involves the following partners: Waag Society and Utrecht School of the Arts.

Contact
For more Information about the pilot healthcare, please contact Betty Bonn at Waag Society,
betty(at)waag.org