A Location-Based Game for Two Generations: Teaching Mobile Technology to the Elderly with the Support of Young Volunteers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a cooperative location-based game designed to teach mobile technology to the elderly, promoting social inclusion, tech skills, and physical activity through intergenerational teamwork.

Contribution

It presents a novel game-based approach that combines education, social inclusion, and physical activity for seniors with support from young volunteers.

Findings

Improved elderly technical skills observed

Increased physical activity among elderly players

Enhanced intergenerational interaction

Abstract

This paper presents a cooperative location-based game for the elderly with the use of tablets equipped with mobile application. The game was designed to tackle at once several crucial topics related to the issue of aging, namely the social inclusion, education in the field of modern technology, motivation for learning as well as physical activity. Mixed-aged teams consisting of two players: a junior and a senior took part in the game. The preliminary results suggest that the game can successfully address a number of issues including improving the elderly technical skills, increasing the elderly physical activity as well as positive intergenerational interaction. The paper describes the game setup in details and presents some initial data gathered during the gameplay.