JMIR Serious Games

Exergame balance training integrates cognitive and motor challenges, potentially enhancing neuroplasticity, postural control, and gait stability in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, whether modulating the task difficulty of a balance-based exergame training may influence posture- and gait-related outcomes remains unknown.

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is prevalent in the world and is associated with significant negative outcomes. Impoverished rural adolescents face unique risks due to limited supervision and unequal digital resources, with limited longitudinal research. Existing studies show sex differences in its prevalence, but their manifestations and mechanisms in rural populations remain unclear.

Individuals with mild intellectual disabilities (ID) often face cognitive and functional challenges, which can lead to low physical activity (PA) and a higher risk of obesity. While virtual reality (VR) exergames show promise for promoting PA in typically developing children, a key barrier for individuals with ID is the lack of a structured teaching methodology. This study argues that a tailored approach is essential to help children with mild ID gain independence in gameplay. By learning specific patterns, they can achieve greater autonomy, which not only facilitates increased PA but also improves motor competence, physical fitness, functional abilities, and overall well-being.

Gaming is a prevalent activity during adolescence, a developmental stage characterized by vulnerability to gaming disorder (GD). According to the self-determination theory, gaming environments can satisfy and frustrate basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—processes linked to GD. However, existing research has primarily focused on adult populations, and validated instruments assessing both in-game need satisfaction (NS) and in-game need frustration (NF) in adolescents are lacking.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) predominantly occur in residential settings, often witnessed by children who could act as first responders. The World Health Organization (WHO) supports the Kids Save Lives (KSL) initiative, recommending basic life support (BLS) training for children aged ≥11 years. However, disparities in BLS education persist globally, particularly in low-resource regions where socioeconomic barriers, such as school type, malnutrition, and limited infrastructure hinder implementation. Younger children (aged <11 years) face additional challenges due to physical limitations (e.g., height, weight, grip strength), which may compromise their ability to achieve adequate chest compression depth. While gamified learning has shown promise in improving BLS engagement and skill acquisition, its efficacy across diverse socioeconomic groups remains understudied.

Population aging underlines the critical need for improving health professional training to adequately care for adults over 60. Developing educational resources to support academics and professionals presents a valuable opportunity to enhance understanding of health conditions and improve clinical management. Serious games are designed to develop teaching, training, and learning skills. Their use in the educational setting is warranted, as they integrate digital aspects and gamification to create a playful content acquisition experience. Deepening this theme in nursing education will improve assistance to the older adult population, promoting more qualified care based on gerontological practices and comprehensive health care for older adults.

With the growing prevalence of aging populations, improving the health and quality of life of older adults has become a critical concern globally. In this context, sports technology presents promising applications. The exergame-based training mat—an interactive exercise technology—integrates gamification with diverse training designs, offering a safe and engaging approach to promoting health and well-being in older adults.

Exergaming, involving physically active play, provides a means for motivating and functional training. It may also offer an innovative solution for rehabilitation after sports injuries such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Rehabilitation is lengthy and only partially prepares athletes for the demands of sports. As a result, only 65% of athletes return to the same performance level as before the injury. Exergames specific to ACL rehabilitation are missing. Their unique combination of physical and cognitive challenge may contribute to preparing patients for their return to sports. Collaboration of sport scientists, game designers, and physiotherapists enables comprehensive and user-centered development of an innovative training concept incorporating the needs of both patients and therapists along with scientific evidence.

Body movement-controlled video games (BMCVGs) are increasingly adopted in rehabilitation because they combine physical training with interactive engagement. Flow experience, a critical factor for enhancing user engagement and training efficacy, exhibits age-related differences that are essential for designing age-appropriate rehabilitation tasks. However, current BMCVG rehabilitation tasks often overlook these age-related differences in subjective experience, leading to insufficient engagement among older adults.

Amblyopia is the leading cause of visual impairment in children worldwide. The predominant clinical treatment, occlusion therapy, is marred by poor adherence, often attributed to the physical discomfort and social stigma associated with eye patching. Adjunct digital visual trainings have not consistently sustained patient engagement due to their repetitive nature, thereby compromising their efficacy.

In face of an increasing treatment need of persons with dementia, effective and efficient interventions with a focus on quality of life need to be established. In this context, Serious Games have received increasing attention. However, there is a lack of applications specifically designed for people with dementia.

Recent studies suggest that eye movements during tasks reflect cognitive processes and that analysis of eye movements using eye-tracking devices can identify developmental impairments in young children. Maintaining engagement during eye-tracking assessments in young children is challenging and often results in data loss due to distractions. This leads to incomplete recordings and repeated measurements, which can be taxing for young children. Gamification of eye-tracking procedures for cognitive diagnosis might increase engagement and help mitigate these problems, but its effects should be studied and quantified.