Preliminary design of a social asymmetric virtual reality upper-limb exergame for individuals with dementia utilizing insights from caregivers

Abstract

This thesis investigates the usability, task load, cooperative performance, and social presence effects of an asymmetric VR game for upper limb activity in the context of elderly care from the perspective of caregivers. The study presented participants with three different play modes: Cooperative within immersive VR, cooperative external to VR, and single-player within VR. The results indicate that the three conditions had above-average usability and social presence and a task load score lower than that of average daily activities. Additionally, a Sign test between the cooperative versions revealed a statistically significant difference in mean Behavioural Engagement scores favouring the version external to VR, p = 0.031. Although future studies with larger sample sizes are needed for an effective evaluation, these results indicate the exergame shows much promise in providing a highly usable, low cognitive load, socially involved exergame for people with dementia and their caregivers.