U.S. researchers say tuition and pressure to achieve top grades are just a few of the reasons that today’s young people suffer from increased anxiety and seek therapy.
In order to enhance the experience of therapy, a team of students and faculty from Rochester Institute of Technology and St. John Fisher College is designing and building a computer game to help young people improve their everyday skills in self-control.
The game starts with assessments that help the players learn about and describe their anxieties and repetitive behavior by turning the players into game characters.
Using physiological sensors that are built into the game hardware, players then learn how to monitor the physiological manifestations of anxiety and stress, or what is commonly called their fight or flight response.
Finally, the players use those same sensors as controllers to move themselves through the game by monitoring and controlling their characters and the stress responses they represent.
"The game was inspired by clients and will involve client input and feedback throughout the development process," said Assistant Professor Robert Rice.
Researchers said games involving physiological health are newly emerging, yet none combines aspects of assessment, cognitive behavioral therapy and biofeedback in a creative and customizable setting.
The game allows a unique extension of the therapist’s role that provides a fun, engaging platform for therapeutic change, while collecting data on psychophysiological change.
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