Gaming and Aging

Video games and the elderly may just seem like polar opposites, but after our lectures and readings I thought about what it could mean if elderlies were actually exposed to the video games. From the readings and research that I have done, it shows that there is a lot of conflicting discourse about whether or not video games actually are beneficial to the aging process. Miller reports on this discourse by presenting HiFi. HiFi is a video game designed to stimulate the "neural circuits" of older adults in hopes of creating a form of preventative therapy that slows down or prevents mental diseases from developing. He shows that many mental diseases stem from the inability to process speech as well as adults grow older (2005). HiFi is a great piece of video gaming technology, because it differs from the high-paced games such as Need for Speed or Modern Warfare in that it promotes the slow and repetitive learning that our lectures have suggested is beneficial in successfully helping older individuals. However, some doctors believe that this neural stimulation is merely a temporary effect that is not significant enough to be acknowledged and breakthrough material. While researching video games that have been developed for the elderly, I came across an article by Nicholson about Brain Age 2. Little did I know Brain Age 2 was actually developed for elderly individuals rather than the growing minds of elementary school children--a belief I had until now. Nicholson argues that even though Brain Age 2 has successfully created a game that pushes older adults to play and compete for a younger age result, it still has a long way to go in terms of getting the older generation to even play with technology that they did not grow up with (2007). That being said, our era is still having trouble convincing the older people to embrace change and foreign technology. Yamaguchi, Maki, and Takahashi reported in an article about the educational issues and environments that people should focus on during development of video games for the elderly. The article reiterated the concerns in our lectures and how positive intrinsic reinforcement should be presented through promoting enjoyment, motivation, praise, and learning repetition for the elderly. With the improvement in technology it also shows a form of intergenerational overlapping in the learning process; this means that tools people use to teach the younger generation can also be used to help the older adults. Aging should be a progressive process that yields more wisdom as an individual grows older; thus, the importance of technology is not only a means of stimulation, but also a means of preservation.

References


Miller, G. (2005). Computer game sharpens aging minds [Electronic version]. Science, 310 (5752), 1261-1262. Retrieved on 25 February 2012 from ProQuest database.

Nicholson, P. (2007). Neuroscientist's video game gives aging brains a youthful boost [Electronic version]. Medical Post, 43 (27), 34-35. Retrieved on 25 February 2012 from ProQuest database.

Yamaguchi, H., Maki, Y., & Takahashi, K. (2010). Rehabilitation for dementia using enjoyable video-sports games [Electronic version]. International Psychogeriatrics, 23 (4), 674-676. Retrieved on 25 February 2012 from ProQuest database.

Car Technology and Aging

Recently, a good friend of mine got into a car accident in which the driver that hit him was a 92 year old man driving with an expired license. I started wondering if there is technology and systems that are being implemented to prevent risky driving and promote safe driving among the elderly people. During a time in which automakers from Ford, Honda, Mitsubishi, etc. are targeting the younger driver, these automakers are striving to bring in maximum safety with their revolutionary equipment and technology. However, what these automakers are failing to do is to remember to keep in mind that their needs to be enticement and technology geared towards the older adults too. Liss and McGuckin argue in their article that statistics show that older adults are more likely to keep driving their older cars as they grow older, avoiding these new and more safety conscious cars--leading to a higher rate of car accidents amongst older adults due to higher use of of older vehicles (2005). Naturally, as technology advances, we have a higher rate of mobility, which leads to older adults driving more frequently. Some technological advancements that Liss and McGuckin suggested include larger signboards, brighter lighting, the introduction of left-turn lanes, etc. In 2008, Galluzzo of the University of Iowa reported that a grant was given by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) to study and create an in-vehicle piece  of assistive technology designed to warn the elderly about oncoming accidents, red-light violations, intersection turn-taking, etc. Band and Perel introduce the latest technology in cars including night vision enhancement and lane departure assistance, just to name two important safety features that have been helping both the young and the elderly. Night vision enhancement is the use of far-infrared waves to procure a higher resolution image of the road conditions ahead. Lane departure assistance is a system that warns the driver when the computer senses that the vehicle is departing from its intended lane (2007). These preemptive measures measures are significan contributions to help the aging community. As the aging process progresses, learning and reaction time slows down significantly. This often causes elderlies stress when they are driving, because they are unable to react as fast to road changes. Much of our lectures have shown us that as the population of elderlies increase, the need for government to provide and implement social systems to help these elderly individuals becomes an increasingly important issue. Thus, implementing better and safer technology in cars for elderly people is very integral to this development of better social systems.      

References
Band, D., & Perel, M. (2007). New vehicle technologies may help older drivers [Electronic version]. Public Roads, 71 (3), 10-21. Retrieved on 25 February 2012 from ProQuest database.

Galluzzo, G. (2008). Study to examine older drivers and assistive technology [Electronic version]. University of Iowa News Release. Retrieved on 25 February 2012 from ProQuest database.

McGuckin, N., & Liss, S. (2005). Aging cars, aging drivers: important findings from the national household travel survey [Electronic version]. Institute of Transportation Engineers. ITE Journal, 75 (9), 30-35. Retrieved on 25 February 2012 from ProQuest database.