JMIR Serious Games

Physical activity supports the health and well-being of individuals with physical disabilities. Despite the significance of engaging in physical activity, barriers faced by individuals with disabilities, such as limited access to adapted facilities and lack of transportation, can restrict their participation. Community organizations play a role in addressing these challenges, but virtual reality (VR) also offers a way to diversify adapted activities. In some situations, VR can help overcome the resource limitations of organizations by providing accessible, engaging, and highly personalized options for physical activity.

Amblyopia is a common cause of visual impairment in children. The compliance with traditional treatments of amblyopia is challenging due to negative psychosocial impacts. Recent shifts in amblyopia treatment have moved from suppressing the dominant eye to enhancing binocular visual function. Binocular digital therapy has become a promising approach.

Ultrasound education is transitioning from in-person training to remote methods using mixed reality (MR) and 5G networks. Previous studies are mainly experimental, lacking randomized controlled trials in direct training scenarios.

Attentional bias to pain-related information has been implicated in pain chronicity. To date, research investigating attentional bias modification training (ABMT) procedures in people with chronic pain has found variable success, perhaps because training paradigms are typically repetitive and monotonous, which could negatively affect engagement and adherence. Increasing engagement through the gamification (ie, the use of game elements) of ABMT may provide the opportunity to overcome some of these barriers. However, ABMT studies applied to the chronic pain field have not yet incorporated gamification elements.

Children and adolescents are often at the crossroads of leisure gaming and excessive gaming. It is essential to identify the modifiable psychosocial factors influencing gaming disorder development. The lay theories of self-control (i.e., the beliefs about whether self-control can be improved, also called self-control mindsets) may interplay with self-control and gaming disorder and serve as a promising influential factor for gaming disorder.

Serious games play a fundamental role in promoting safe sexual behaviors. This medium has great potential for promoting healthy behaviors that prevent potential risk factors, such as sexually transmitted infections, and promote adherence to sexual health treatments, such as antiretroviral therapy. The ubiquity of mobile devices enhances access to such tools, increasing the effectiveness of video games as agents of change.

The gaming and gambling overlap have intensified with new evidence emerging. However, the relationship between gaming and gambling in the digital space is still inconclusive, especially in developing Asian countries.

Complications due to dysphagia are increasingly prevalent among the elderly; however, the tediousness and complexity of conventional tongue rehabilitation treatments affect their willingness to rehabilitate. It is currently unclear whether integrating gameplay into a tongue training app is a feasible approach to rehabilitation.

Difficulties in emotional regulation are often observed in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Innovative complementary treatments, such as video games and virtual reality, have become increasingly appealing to patients. The Secret Trail of Moon (MOON) is a serious video game developed by a multidisciplinary team featuring cognitive training exercises. In this second randomized clinical trial, we evaluated the impact of a 20-session treatment with MOON on emotional regulation, as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) high-intensity interval training (HIIT) boxing protocol compared to traditional high-intensity circuit training (HICT) in improving exercise motivation, engagement, and physiological responses among thirty healthy medical students.

Reminiscence therapy through music is a psychosocial intervention with benefits for elderly patients with neurocognitive disorders. Therapies using virtual or augmented reality are efficient to ecologically assess, and eventually train, episodic memory in the elderly population. We designed a semi-immersive musical game called “A life in songs” which invites patients to immerse themselves in a past era through visuals and songs from that time period. The game aspires to become a playful, easy-to-use and complete tool for the assessment, rehabilitation and prevention of neurocognitive decline associated with aging.

With substantial resources allocated to develop virtual reality (VR)–based rehabilitation exercise programs for poststroke motor rehabilitation, it is important to understand how patients with stroke perceive these technology-driven approaches, as their perceptions can determine acceptance and adherence.