gray gamers meet rhythm games
DESCRIPTION
Often dance and rhythm games are seen as exergames for younger generations. What would it take to reorient such games for so-called \"gray gamers\" -- those gamers 50 years and older? In this session Jeff Pepper, Founder and CEO of Touchtown, a company specializing in video and computer information networks for senior communities, will discuss how they designed and built a dance-pad based fitness product for the senior market. DanceTown is specifically aimed at older players and senior living communities. Unique to the design is a slick web-based system for recording a player\'s performance, tracking progress over time, and creating online connections among players. A Dancetown player (or their family or medical professional) can see at a glance how their dancing is progressing day by day, week by week and month by month. Players can also see how their scores improve on standardized fitness measurements such as the Senior Fitness Test.TRANSCRIPT
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Copyright © 2007 by Touchtown Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
Jeff PepperPresident and CEO
Touchtown Inc.
Games For Health Conference
Baltimore, MDMay 9, 2008
Gray Gamers Meet Rhythm Games
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Copyright © 2007 by Touchtown Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
Jeff PepperPresident and CEO
Touchtown Inc.
Games For Health Conference
Baltimore, MDMay 9, 2008
Our Excellent AdventureCreating an Exergame Product
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Copyright © 2007 by Touchtown Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
?What were we thinking???
Why is this a problem worth
solving?
How did we do it?
Where are we now?
Did we learn anything from all
this?
Our Excellent AdventureCreating an Exergame Product
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Why Did We Do This?
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• Touchtown is a 9-year old technology company with substantial knowledge about seniors and the retirement industry, but no experience building games
• Market: we serve 100,000 retirement home residents throughout North America, providing in-house TV, digital signage, and web portals
• Challenge: could we deliver the benefits of dance pad games to older adults?
• Investment: 18 months, 40+ people, 5 retirement homes, plus CMU Entertainment Technology Center people
How This Started
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Why Is This Worthwhile?
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• Reduces risk of obesity1
• Reduces risk of heart disease1
• Reduces risk of diabetes1
• Reduces risk of hypertension1
• Reduces risk of congestive heart disease1
• Reduces risk of osteoporosis1, 3
• Improves cognition2
Benefits of Exercise
1. Physical activity and health: report of the Surgeon General. US Department of Health and Human Services Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion 1996.
2. Green CS, Bavelier D. Action video game modifies visual selective attention. Nature 2003;423(6939):534-7.3. Alekel L, Clasey JL, Fehling PC, et al. Contributions of exercise, body composition, and age to bone mineral density in
premenopausal women. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1995;27(11):1477-85.
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• Improves proprioception and balance1
• improves cardiorespiratory
endurance2
• Increases strength and endurance2
• Improves body agility and flexibility2
• Improves locomotion and agility3
• Helps with weight loss and fat loss2, 4
• Improves balance, more stable
walking2, 5
Benefits of Dance
1. Crotts D, Thompson B, Nahom M, Ryan S, Newton RA. Balance abilities of professional dancers on select balance tests. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1996;23(1):12-7.
2. Hopkins DR, Murrah B, Hoeger WW, Rhodes RC. Effect of low-impact aerobic dance on the functional fitness of elderly women. Gerontologist 1990;30(2):189-92.
3. Shigematsu R, Chang M, Yabushita N, et al. Dance-based aerobic exercise may improve indices of falling risk in older women. Age Ageing 2002;31(4):261-6.
4. Shimamoto H, Adachi Y, Takahashi M, Tanaka K. Low impact aerobic dance as a useful exercise mode for reducing body mass in mildly obese middle-aged women. Appl Human Sci 1998;17(3):109-14.
5. Verghese J. Cognitive and mobility profile of older social dancers. J Am Geriatr Soc 2006;54(8):1241-4.
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• Helps with weight loss1
• Improves attention2
• Reduces anxiety3
• Enhances thinking skills, creativity and
attention3
• Improves social skills3, 4
• Improves endurance, muscle strength,
rhythm4
• Encourages socialization4
Benefits of Dance Pad Games
1. "Dancing video game helps kids avoid weight gain", Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 2007-02-01.2. Green CS, Bavelier D. Action video game modifies visual selective attention. Nature 2003;423(6939):534-7.3. http://seriousgamessource.com/features/feature_051906.php4. Hoysniemi J, International survey on the Dance Dance Revolution game, Computers in Entertainment, April-June
2006
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• 31 sedentary women aged 48 – 70 played DDR for 30
minutes twice a week
• Weight loss: up to 20 lbs, average = 1 lb. The
researcher, Dr. Stephanie Studenski, has lost 50
pounds!
• Blood pressure: dropped up to 20 points
• Acceptance: 90% enjoyed it and would recommend
it to others
New Research Released Last Week
Stephanie A. Studenski, MD, MPH, “Interactive Video Dance in Postmenopausal Women: a Pilot Intervention Trial”, American Geriatrics Society Annual Scientific Meeting
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Why Is This An“Interesting”
Challenge?
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Traditional Retirement Home Culture:
“Bingo, Birthdays and Crafts”
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“And you should see our fitness program!”
Chair exercises
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“We have an exergaming program...
we just got a Wii.”
Very popular in retirement communities
Lots of fun, moderate exercise
BUT little impact on balance, strength, bone density, fall prevention
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“OK, then let’s get a dance pad game…”
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But dance pad gamesaren’t designed for seniors.
Sample screen from Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution®
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Our Vision: A Successful Exergame Created Specifically for Older
Adults
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Video
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Design Innovations
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Design Innovation: SENIOR FRIENDLY VISUAL DESIGN
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Design Innovation: SENIOR FRIENDLY MUSIC
40+ songs of interest
to older adults
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Design Innovation: INTERGENERATIONAL PLAY
• Two people can dance together at different levels of difficulty.
• Scoring is normalized, enabling competition.
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Design Innovation: ACCESSIBILITY
Beginner (Level 1): just rocking left and right
Easy (Level 2): add forward movement
Pro (Level 6): comparable to higher levels in teen-oriented dance games
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Design Innovation: SAFETY
How do you avoid injury?
Courtesy of http://www.interpretivearson.com/
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Design Innovation: SAFETY
Sturdy 3-sided railings
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Design Innovation: TRACK MEDICAL OUTCOMES
Each player has their own account.
Enter assessment data.
Access history and trends on the web!
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Design Innovation: ONLINE PERFORMANCE TRACKING
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Design Innovation: ONLINE COMMUNITY
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Demo
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CurrentResearch
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Humana Health Services Research Center (University of Miami):
•Assess feasibility of using Dancetown in the healthy senior population.
•Single group, pre-post clinical trial conducted at three retirement homes.
Stephanie Studenski, Professor, Department of Medicine and Staff Physician, VA Pittsburgh:
•Follow-on phases of study of dance pad benefits for postmenopausal women.
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ProjectStatus
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Copyright © 2007 by Touchtown Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited.
• Technology:
• Commercial version is complete, in use at about 20 locations throughout North America
• Mass market version under development, for summer release
• Distribution:
• Sold in US by Exergame Fitness, in Canada by Wheels of Fitness
• Also available at www.dancetown.us
• Marketing to 44,000 retirement homes starting in June
• Partnering with Humana’s Innovation Center, looking at high volume rollout later this year
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Did We Learn
Anything?
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• Our initial vision of game development: “build a game”
The Game
• Initial cool idea• Collect user
requirements• Design• Build• Test• Deliver• Repeat
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• Our revised vision of game development: “create a sustainable business”:
The Game
Distribution
Packaging
HardwareIntegrationPatent and
TrademarkIssues
Pricing
Chrome
Promotion
CulturalIntegration
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Thank You!