Background
The falls sensei game
System architecture and game logic
Game walkthrough
Methods
Participants
Pseudonym | Age Bracket | Gender |
---|---|---|
Laura | 66–70 | Female |
Daniel | 76–80 | Male |
Matthew | 71–75 | Male |
Joshua | 71–75 | Male |
Aimee | 71–75 | Female |
Lucy | 61–65 | Female |
Ethan | 66–70 | Male |
Thomas | 71–75 | Male |
Charlotte | 71–75 | Female |
Deborah | 50–55 | Female |
Christopher | Not disclosed | Male |
Karen | 66–70 | Female |
Kesia | 76–80 | Female |
Kate | 50–55 | Female |
Emily | 56–60 | Female |
Protocol and instrumentation
Data analysis
Results
Log-file findings
Game Level | In-Game Hazards (in ranked order) | Avg. Identification Rank Order | Gap score | Df | Avg. Time to complete Level (mm:ss) | P-value (2-tail)Avg. Time to identify a Hazard per level (mm:ss) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Mean | Modal | ||||
1: Kitchen | Carpet / Rug | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | 04:32 (SD = 02:04) | 00:49 (SD = 00:21) |
Juice Carton | 2 | 2.7 | 2 | |||
Dragon Toy | 3 | 3.5 | 3,4 | |||
Dining Chair | 4 | 3.7 | 3 | |||
Backless Stool | 5 | 4.6 | 4,5,6 | |||
Wine Bottles | 6 | 4.9 | 6 | |||
2: Bathroom | Sneakers/Shoes | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | 03:28 (SD = 01:33) | 00:42 (SD = 00:19)* |
Open Cabinet Door | 2 | 2.3 | 1,2 | |||
Water Puddle | 3 | 2.7 | 3 | |||
Light (Switched off) | 4 | 4 | 5 | |||
Bath Tub | 5 | 4.3 | 4 | |||
3: Bedroom | Human Figure | 1 | 2 | 1,2 | 03:20 (SD = 01:40) | 00:33 (SD = 00:17) |
Teddy Bear | 2 | 2.1 | 1 | |||
Book | 3 | 3.1 | 3 | |||
Puff Chair | 4 | 3.1 | 5 | |||
Telephone | 5 | 4.3 | 4 | |||
Light (Switch) | 6 | 5.3 | 6 | |||
4: Lounge & Stairs | Slippers | 1 | 2.1 | 2 | 06:36 (SD = 03:00) | 00:44 (SD = 00:20) |
Broken Stair | 2 | 2.9 | 1 | |||
Books (on floor) | 3 | 4.4 | 4,5 | |||
Light (Switch near | 4 | 4.7 | 3 | |||
Books (on stairs) | 5 | 5.3 | 4 | |||
Flex (across doorway | 6 | 5.3 | 6 | |||
Light (Switch in hall) | 7 | 5.5 | 3,8 | |||
Clothing Pile (on | 8 | 6.7 | 6,7 | |||
Iron (on floor) | 9 | 7.5 | 6,7 |
SUS findings
SUS item | Mid-point | Falls Sensei application | Gap score | Df | t-value | P-value (2-tail) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean ± SD | ||||||
S1: I think that I would like to use this Falls Sensei game frequently. | 3.00 | 3.07 ± 1.43 | 0.07 | 13 | 0.19 | 0.856 |
S2: I found the Falls Sensei game unnecessarily complex.a | 3.00 | 4.36 ± 0.93 | 1.36 | 13 | 5.47 | 0.000* |
S3: I thought the Falls Sensei game was easy to use. | 3.00 | 3.92 ± 0.91 | 0.92 | 13 | 3.79 | 0.002* |
S4: I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use this Falls Sensei game a | 3.00 | 4.07 ± 1.07 | 1.07 | 13 | 3.74 | 0.002* |
S5: I found the various functions in this Falls Sensei game were well integrated. | 3.00 | 3.86 ± 0.74 | 0.86 | 13 | 3.71 | 0.003* |
S6: I thought there was too much inconsistency in this Falls Sensei game.a | 3.00 | 4.42 ± 1.09 | 1.42 | 13 | 4.91 | 0.000* |
S7: I would imagine that most people would learn to use this Falls Sensei game very quickly. | 3.00 | 4.36 ± 0.74 | 1.36 | 13 | 6.82 | 0.000* |
S8: I found the Falls Sensei game very cumbersome to use.a | 3.00 | 4.29 ± 1.07 | 1.29 | 13 | 4.50 | 0.001* |
S9: I felt very confident using the Falls Sensei game | 3.00 | 4.43 ± 0.65 | 1.42 | 13 | 8.27 | 0.000* |
S10: I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this Falls Sensei game.a | 3.00 | 4.21 ± 0.89 | 1.21 | 13 | 5.09 | 0.000* |
Think-aloud data and post-task interviews
Performance expectancy (PE)
Effort expectancy (EE): the degree of ease associated with the use of the system
Social influence (SI): the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she should use the new system
Additional falls hazards identified by participants
Name | Hazard | Quote |
---|---|---|
Lucy | Mats |
Mats I think are ambiguous, because unless they are completely fixed to the floor, you know, they’re trip hazards.
|
Daniel | Layout of furniture |
The edge of the desk is just beyond the door. So you walk in and hit… for furniture you want rounded corners.
|
Thomas | Layout of furniture |
That furniture is partly obstructing the door way… someone who has designed the game hasn’t thought about that.
|
Matthew | Doors |
The [bathroom] door opens that way, does it? So it opens… it could hit you in the back or something.
|
Matthew | Swivel office chair |
Oh, that’s a funny object: that chair. They swivel and if you hold on to it and it swivels… if you’re not too steady on your pins, it could potentially throw you off balance.
|
Joshua | Positioning of ‘safe’ bath rail |
I would’ve suggested it [the bath rail] should be lower. You’re never going to reach that in a sitting position.
|
Thomas | Positioning of ‘safe’ bath rail |
Oh, very high that rail, isn’t it!
|
Joshua | Positioning of ‘safe’ toilet roll |
I don’t think the toilet is necessarily a fall hazard, but certainly where the toilet roll is… reaching.
|
Lucy | Table in Lounge |
This table looks uneven to me, because it seems to be balanced on something… is that a trip hazard? It could lead to a fall.
|
Thomas | Cooking oil by stove |
This object [oil] is in a safe place? But it’s right next to the cooker!
|
Daniel | Cooking oil by stove |
Would you put it [oil] there… I don’t think so. You get flames coming out of the saucepan, and heat.
|
Thomas | Lack of pull cord in bathroom |
Yeah, but I’ll tell you also, inside a bathroom, you shouldn’t have a finger switch.
|
Charlotte | Lack of pull cord in bathroom |
But you’re not allowed to have a light inside the bathroom, I know that because we build our own ourselves.
|
Deborah | Wooden Stairs |
Your stairs did look as though they were just wood and that could be, you know, you might slip on stairs - it might be better if they have a carpet.
|
Karen | Balusters on stairs too far apart |
Somebody could fall through the stairs - there’s quite a few - the gaps in the stairs are quite wide, really, aren’t they?
|
Telephone interviews: impact of playing the game
Another participant reported that although he treated his new awareness of falls hazards like a joke, it has in reality had some useful impact on his awareness and his behaviour.“When I say "I've made no changes", I do feel more aware of potential hazards, and so whilst not actually affecting any changes I take care not to allow any to be around. I try not to create any, let's put it that way.” (Matthew)
Fall Hazards Recalled (3 weeks post gameplay) | Frequency of Hazard recalled by participants |
---|---|
Lighting | 7 |
General Floor Clutter | 6 |
Flex (across doorway) | 4 |
Rug/Mat | 4 |
Staircase Hazards | 4 |
Reaching (things at height) | 3 |
Bathroom Grab Rail | 2 |
Water Puddle | 2 |
Discussion
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Recommendation 1) There is a need for more research exploring the effectiveness of serious games such as Falls Sensei compared with more traditional forms of falls education
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Recommendation 2) Further research is required to explore the link between serious 3D exploration games and how usability evaluations of these games vary with age
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Recommendation 3) There is a need to explore the effectiveness of such games, in terms of educational value, for a range of different cohorts including carers, children and young adults
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Recommendation 4) Explore how such games can be designed to increase users’ motivation to engage and return to playing the game frequently
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Recommendation 5) Explore how effective such games are on a range of hardware platforms including mobile phones, tablet computers and swipe screens.