Carnival Play: eHealth Solution to Evaluate, Rehabilitate, and Monitor Dexterity and Manual Strength

Introduction

In this chapter, the authors played seriously. Presently, healthcare and well-being demand for Serious Games playing and, since this is no playful matter, there is no problem about how slow the progression is, as long as it continues. Similar to the recovery process that is about evolution, not perfection, side by side, games and technology can engage users in playful, as well as significant experiences, prompting the delight of each human cell. Empathy starts with the ability of one placing himself in another person shoes, seeing with other eyes, feeling with another heart. An echo from another perspective into ourselves, ripping apart the human ego sphere. Belonging to a greater sphere, more inclusive, where everyone feels as equals since every human being has the right to unite to a society. There is a need to optimize technology, to overcome these struggles, as the next step towards a society that will shape different values for the future. Implying that technology is at peoples service, is the same as saying that it is available for them hence it must behave like a respectful, generous and helpful character, that cares for people delight, inclusiveness and amusement.

Framing a work plan for the Interaction and Serious Game design, in an eHealth context, the authors developed “Carnival” a game set comprising three games dynamics: “High Striker”, “Claw Machine” and “HotDog Sauce”. These were conceived in parallel within two perspectives: (i) the digital Interface Design (UI), as a mediator of game dynamics, and (ii) the User Experience Design (UX). Focusing on promoting the player’s engagement in the performance of repetitive tasks, the authors aim to defeat the rehabilitation or training process monotony. “Carnival” intends to ensure good communication, providing stimuli for the players to go forward in their performances. Facing this situation, the authors unfolded the chapter into four main titles. The first defining the Motivation for this design, with a central purpose of evaluating and reformulate the Interaction Design, and User Experience applied to two instrumented systems already conceived and built: BodyGrip and SHaRe (hardware devices and its corresponding interactive software applications), where previously were specified the Social Context. The second defines the State-of-the-Art, prospecting the concept of Empathy for Well-Being, where notions such as Positive Computing and eHealth, Guidelines for Empathy’ Stages, Co-Designing Healthcare and Inclusivity and Amusement, were explored aiming to reinforce the contributions of play systems for eHealth, Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation contexts. The third title declares solution development, step by step, where the game “Carnival” gains life, converging its user experience research to its user interface ideation. Finally, the authors close the chapter offering an overview of this project Discussion and Future Research Directions, aiming to trace the current and future usage of games for health on diagnosis, prediction and monitoring namely in the context of musculoskeletal pathologies describing the potential of the BodyGrip and SHaRe systems to evaluate, rehabilitate and monitor dexterity and manual Strength.