MoCHA: Designing Games to Monitor Cognitive Health in Elders at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

MoCHA (Monitoring Cognitive Health using Apps) is a set of tablet-based games designed to provide convenient, low-stress, affordable monitoring of cognitive health for elders at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Conducting psychological measurement via gameplay poses unique game-design challenges, and there are additional factors to consider when designing games for non-gamer elders who may be, or become, cognitively impaired. In this paper we briefly describe the MoCHA system, identify key design challenges, and show how specific features of the game contribute to meeting these challenges.