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Developments in Assistive Technology (AT) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) targeting older adults have typically focused on supporting maintenance of activities of daily life such as cooking, personal hygiene and safety in the home. There has been far less exploration of the potential of technologies to address more than these basic needs, for example the need for social interaction, for engagement in meaningful activities and for personal achievement and satisfaction. These areas have, however, been at the forefront of developments in video games and multimedia entertainment targeting other sectors of the population.
Video games have great potential as a medium for delivering a wide range of benefits for older adults, particularly those with special needs, such as mobility, visual, hearing or cognitive impairment that may reduce the accessibility of other activities. The flexibility and responsiveness offered by video games make it possible to tailor activities to mitigate special physical and cognitive needs to enable a whole range of experiences from education to excitement to sheer enjoyment.
This session calls for presentations and discussion of examples of video game developments targeting older adults with special physical or cognitive needs with a view to sharing experience, identifying areas of common interest and comparing methodologies for developing, testing and evaluating prototypes. This could include:

• Novel games and ICT-based activities developed for specific groups such as mobility, hearing or cognitively impaired older adults
• Evaluation of off-the-shelf video games and apps with older adults with special needs
• Approaches to developing and testing prototype games and ICT-based activities in different environments and physical/cognitive domains
• Requirements engineering and inclusive design approaches for developing games and ICT-based activities for older adults with special needs
• Frameworks or methodologies for evaluating the benefits of different games and ICT-based activities
• Exploration of the challenges, rewards and opportunities of developing games for older adults with special needs

It is hoped that this session will provide a forum for sharing experience, consolidating knowledge from a range of physical and cognitive domains and galvanizing activity to inspire rapid expansion in the development of video games and ICT-based activities for older adults with special needs.

Chairs

Arlene J. Astell, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Canada & Centre for Assistive Technology and Connected Healthcare, University of Sheffield, UK
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