MoveCare Exergames

During my time as a research consultant at the Applied Intelligent Systems Laboratory at the University of Milan, I had the chance to take part in the MoveCare project, which eventually became the subject of my M.Sc. thesis.

For this project, I developed the backbone of an exergaming platform with a set of games designed to assess and improve patients’ balance. These games are based on natural user interface devices such as 3D cameras to reduce the difficulties of interaction with the target users.

This project was very important for my personal growth, as it allowed me to explore the academic world and present a paper at the IEEE 7th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health. It also challenged my ability to design a complex system with a high level of modularity that integrates various input devices.

The most meaningful challenges of this project were:

• Implementation of an avateering system based on the use of a 3D camera, where a humanoid character on-screen moves by mimiking the movements of the user in front of the 3D camera.
• Design and implementation of the input devices manager, a system capable to modify the games’ controls and content according to the currently connected input devices.
• Design and implementation of a common “exergame backbone” that all the games of the platform are based on.
• Research on empathic virtual caregivers and design of a new virtual assistant in charge of guiding the users through the games and offering motivational support.