Authors:
Michael Pantförder
1
and
Andre Hellwig
2
Affiliations:
1
Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering ISST, Dortmund, Germany
;
2
Hochschule für Gesundheit, Bochum, Germany
Keyword(s):
Serious Game, Neurofeedback, Psychotherapy, Brain Computer Interface, Electroencephalography.
Abstract:
In childhood and adolescence, mental development processes are crucial for a person’s long-term, cognitive
health. Many young people have at least one characteristic that leads to psychological impairment and must
be accompanied by therapy. Therapy success requires the constant execution of therapeutic exercises during
and after therapy sessions. However, keeping the motivation of the patients upright for continuous cooperation
is a key challenge, since the exercises are perceived as laborious. A digital, playful training application offers
the potential to support the therapy of children and adolescents. Measuring brain activity plays an important role as it shows how good patients can push away negative thoughts affecting their mental disorder. For
this purpose the fundamentals of serious games, neurofeedback, brain computer interfaces (BCIs) and electroencephalography (EEG) as well as different therapy-accompanying measures were examined. Based on the
findings and a focus g
roup with psychotherapists (N=3), a serious game was designed as a motivational concentration and attention training to support psychotherapy. During the game the easy-to-use MUSE headband
measures concentration and integrates neurofeedback as a game mechanic. User tests with children (N=21)
were performed to evaluate the developed prototype and gather further information on usability, technology
acceptance and playfulness of the neurogame.
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