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.

1. Jeff Pepper President and CEO Touchtown Inc. Games For Health Conference Baltimore, MD May 9, 2008 Gray Gamers Meet Rhythm Games

2. Jeff Pepper President and CEO Touchtown Inc. Games For Health Conference Baltimore, MD May 9, 2008 Our Excellent Adventure Creating an Exergame Product

4. Why Did We Do This?

6. Why Is This Worthwhile?

11. Why Is This An “Interesting” Challenge?

12. Traditional Retirement Home Culture: “ Bingo, Birthdays and Crafts”

13. “ And you should see our fitness program!” Chair exercises

14. “ 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

15. “ OK, then let’s get a dance pad game…”

16. But dance pad games aren’t designed for seniors. Sample screen from Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution ®

17. Our Vision: A Successful Exergame Created Specifically for Older Adults

18. Video

19. Design Innovations

20. Design Innovation: SENIOR FRIENDLY VISUAL DESIGN

21. Design Innovation: SENIOR FRIENDLY MUSIC 40+ songs of interest to older adults

23. 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

24. Design Innovation: SAFETY How do you avoid injury? Courtesy of http://www.interpretivearson.com/

25. Design Innovation: SAFETY Sturdy 3-sided railings

26. Design Innovation: TRACK MEDICAL OUTCOMES Each player has their own account. Enter assessment data. Access history and trends on the web!

27. Design Innovation: ONLINE PERFORMANCE TRACKING

28. Design Innovation: ONLINE COMMUNITY

29. Demo

30. Current Research

32. Project Status

34. Did We Learn Anything?

37. Thank You! [email_address]