In the past few years, there has been an explosion of new products on the market that monitor the safety of senors in their own home. This is part of an effort to honor the understanding that elders prefer to remain home instead of moving late in life to a care facility or retirement home. Home monitoring is a helpful adjunct to a home-safety plan for seniors, but research demonstrates that the human need for "community" remains--that home monitoring alone does not guarantee quality of life or care. Studies have shown that a combination of oversight solutions (both electronic and human) with social interaction generates the most life satisfaction.
What Does All of This Have to Do With Virtual Gaming?
Virtual gaming allows for participation in something fun, and supplies the sometimes missing elements of social connection, competitiveness and exercise--right from home. While there are blogs, wikis, Internet forums, instant-messaging systems and the like, none of these communication tools comes close to the look and feel of a real-life community with people interacting in real time in a social setting. Virtual gaming comes closer to providing this by creating a computer-generated environment and allowing interaction with lifelike (or better than lifelike) characters that provide instant feedback, just as in real social settings.
Is It Just a Game?
So-called "serious" games can provide entertainment, but some purport to also stimulate cognition and help improve agility and balance. Wii sports games are creating a stir across the country as seniors organize virtual bowling leagues, competing in both regional and national tournaments. Games designed to help keep the mind alert play popular movie scenes from the '60s or after. After viewing, gamers are asked questions about details in the clips they have just seen. Video-game players have been shown to have shorter reaction times, better hand-eye coordination and better dexterity than non-gamers. However, research does not claim that video gaming by any age group can actually produce measurable changes in perceptual, motor or cognitive skills. That finding is a reflection of how hard it is to measure these things, and the probability that people with better hand-eye coordination (as one example) may choose to participate in gaming, whereas those who find gaming more difficult avoid it.
What's Ahead?
It's as hard to predict the future of gaming as it is to see the end of any other technology's development. Graphics steadily improve, making the virtual environment more lifelike every year. The future may hold more advances in such areas as 3-D displays; the ability to team up live with players live from another location via the Internet (the Wii is already allowing this); head-mounted displays that immerse the player in the virtual world; and tactile hand controllers that allow the player to "feel," not just see, the virtual world.
Are There Any Concerns?
Some studies have shown that gamers with sensory or processing problems in the brain might experience what is known as "cybersickness." This is a combination of symptoms like nausea, dizziness and disorientation. These effects may arise if one's brain cannot keep up with the pace of the game. When using a video controller while standing to bowl or play another game that requires total body movement, consider the space you need, remove objects that might get in the way, and be sure to have a way to dry the controller between players so that it won't slip out of your hand when in use.
Experiment with any game before investing in it, to be sure you can set the pace to a comfortable level. Most stores have demonstration games available for you to try before you buy. If you plan to use gaming to improve your cognitive performance, try to match the game characteristics with the skills you are trying to improve, and devise a reasonable gaming schedule to maximize results.
