Computer Graphics, Video Games, and Gamification Impacting (Re)Habilitation, Healthcare, and Inclusive Well-Being

As Tolstoy stated in “What is Art?” (Tolstoy 1995 [1897]) – Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man [or woman] consciously by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other are infected by these feelings and also experience them. In the text he states how art is a form of consciousness, framing in so doing the essential role of art as a vehicle of communication and empathy.

On a more recent note than Tolstoy, Grau (2003) posited: …ultimately, it is the intellectual vision, transposed into the work step by step with technology as its reference, that remains the core of a virtual work of art.

This article introduces a body of work where the catalyst is creative expression and playful interactivity. The author’s background as an artist is prevalent in how empowerment via embodied interaction utilizing digital technologies (predominantly sensor-based [on-body/off-body] biofeedback mapped to digital multimedia [auditory, visual, robotic stimuli, etc.] and analogue content [video feedback, vocals, etc.]) was identified as a means to supplement traditional intervention in specific healthcare treatment programs and (re)habilitation.

Within the work a commercial industry start-up was realized from the author’s research, as well as international and national funded projects, and global acclaim as, e.g., plenary keynotes at leading international conferences, and more.

This contribution is focused upon sharing how in the 1990s, for approximately a decade, computer graphics were created as gesture-based interactive games under the author’s gamification (including social interaction, creative expression, and enjoyable play) approach to healthcare and rehabilitation intervention. The core of the strategy is a catalyst fun experience from within an openly adaptive interactive environment that can be tailored for each participant profile and the treatment program goals. Most recently the work has realized a series of publications under the theme of “Technologies for Inclusive Well-Being.”