Intelligent Adaptation in Games for Older Adults using Body Signals and Social Robots

Overall, physiological sensing has been extensively used as a passive technique to record human responses during human-computer and human-robot interaction scenarios. However, body signals have been also utilized either to extend the communication pathways for interfacing the nervous system with the interactive experiences or to augment the interaction by means of modulating variables and behaviors in response to detected human states (e.g., biocybernetic adaptation). In this talk, we will discuss the use of physiological sensing as an intelligent adaptive mechanism to create more responsive, context-aware and engaging interactive experiences for older adults targeting applications in exercise promotion, physical and neuro rehabilitation as well as social communication and collaboration. We will discuss implications of user-centered design techniques used to create tailored applications such as interactive games, virtual reality simulations and playful scenarios with social robots.