MindLight incorporates several evidence-based strategies including relaxation and mindfulness techniques, attention bias modification methods, and neurofeedback mechanics that together produce an immersive game world through which children learn to manage and overcome anxiety symptoms
Using the neurofeedback headset to play the game, the environment, threats and puzzles all respond to how the player is allocating their attention and, thus, how he/she is feeling
- Games for Change
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Last Friday GEMH lab was featured in Het Jeugdjournaal to explain why games can help children to overcome their problems, such as anxiety. Het Jeugdjournaal is a Dutch news show that aims to educate children about worldwide and national news.
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A new paper by Hanneke Scholten and Isabela Granic is out, published by the Journal of Medical Internet Research! Find 'Use of the Principles of Design Thinking to Address Limitations of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth: Viewpoint' here or read about it here.
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Last Friday GEMH lab was featured in Het Jeugdjournaal to explain why games can help children to overcome their problems, such as anxiety. Het Jeugdjournaal is a Dutch news show that aims to educate children about worldwide and national news.
top update
A new paper by Hanneke Scholten and Isabela Granic is out, published by the Journal of Medical Internet Research! Find 'Use of the Principles of Design Thinking to Address Limitations of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Youth: Viewpoint' here or read about it here.
Interview with GEMH-lab researcher Elke Schoneveld about applied game MindLight
At the placebo conference in Leiden, Aniek Wols took second place with her poster on specific and nonspecific factors in game-based intervention outcomes.
In this blog we explore the potential of video games that respond to signals from the player's body, i.e. biofeedback games. Specifically, we discuss whether they can help people to become more aware of their body and to effectively regulate their emotions.
This article will help you diagnose and solve common issues with your MindLight Installation.
I was recently invited to contribute to an article about “10 groundbreaking findings in Psychology and their applicability to (serious) game design”. This is what I had to contribute. 9 others will contribute a discussion of similar length, and we hope to be submitting our work shortly. I’ll keep this blog updated on the paper’s status.
Games provide a very interesting avenue to explore morality. After all, you are not hurting any real people when you allow yourself to misbehave within games. I’m sure we’ve all done things in game worlds that we are not proud of, just to see what happens. In this way, games can provide us with an idea of the consequences of certain actions, and provide an opportunity to test how those actions affect us emotionally.
We have witnessed nothing less than a cultural genesis in the rise of video games. Over the last twenty to thirty years, gaming has gone from fringe to mainstream entertainment. As an industry, it now rivals Hollywood in budgets and revenue, and like Hollywood, it commands a large, diverse audience. In its evolution, gaming has created cultural icons, spawned social controversies, become heralded as an art form, and created diverse cultures of gamers. This post is my attempt to concisely and objectively get people up to speed on what the wide world of video gaming looks like.
Check out the interview I did on an awesome Dutch documentary series, Doc Talks.
Web article about new game to increase mental health literacy and decrease stigma for depression in youth.
At the placebo conference in Leiden, Aniek Wols took second place with her poster on specific and nonspecific factors in game-based intervention outcomes.
A summary of the research-backed rationale for using games for the prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression in youth.
Everyone has moments when they feel sad, lonely, numb, exhausted, depressed, nervous or anxious. This is a normal part of the ups and downs of life and most people will experience one or more periods in their lives, when they have a diagnosable depression or anxiety disorder. But even if things are not quite that bad, you may still want to do something to help yourself feel better!
The study of the benefits of playing video games may be relatively new, but the positive function of play more generally has been an important field of study for a long time in developmental psychology.
September 18-22 is the Dutch national week against bullying, so for our second Let's Play we're playing an oldie but a goodie: 'Bully: Scholarship Edition'.
Joanneke Weerdmeester's PhD research on DEEP was featured in a short item on regional TV (with subtitles)
What are the top 3 most popular video games of children (8 to 12-year-olds)?
RTL Z shortly stopped by our booth at INDIGO where we were showing DEEP, which resulted in a brief feature on the Dutch news of 17:30 on July 6th, 2017
GEMH-lab will be at INDIGO 2017 to showcase the amazing VR game DEEP, so come and say hi!
The GEMH Game Lounge is open for students at Radboud University, every day between 12.30-13.30h. Students can relax by playing from a variety of video games including but not limited to VR, Playstation and mobile app games that relieve stress and anxiety. Click here to see what games are available this month!
As the end of this month approaches and a new theme finds its way to our lab, we have decided to celebrate this month's theme - prosociality and kindness - with a Let's Play! In this edition, Anouk, Babet and myself have played a fun yet chaotic cooking game called Overcooked!, in which we venture to conquer the kitchen in our quest to beat the giant meat ball boss.
In the first installment of our bi-monthly Game Day we explore if we can make a player engage challenging situations confident that other players would help them personally. We chose the MMORPG Guild Wars 2 to examine how its unique combat system, map exploration and character progression could create a context for the player to experience personalized social support.
The majority of popular video games nowadays allow (or even require) multiple players to join in at the same time. More than ever before, gamers are being dropped in virtual worlds together with their friends, family, but also total strangers. What kind of effect does this have on our social behavior?
Anouk Tuijnman talked about Moving Stories on the NOS op 3 Tech Podcast (in Dutch).
Every March, to coincide with the Game Developers conference and many other major gaming news & updates, we felt now would be a great opportunity to take a look at some of the games available that can have a positive impact on mental and emotional well-being. Games that you can relax to but still be immersed in a non casual way.
This month we focus on the connection between mind and body and we will discuss whether video games can help us listen to our body and practice techniques that change our body activity in a way that makes us feel better.
GEMH Lab recommends games available that can have a positive impact on mental and emotional well-being.
The condition "Gaming Disorder" describes a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior so severe that it takes "precedence over other life interests". But is it the game design that is addicting or the emotional connections to an online social network made while playing the game?
Dark Souls is a video game series often described as dark and incredibly difficult. Honestly, one of the last games I would have considered as beneficial for those dealing with depression. My first impression may very well be wrong though...
There’s a belief that talking about mental illness as a disease (the disease model) reduces stigma and makes it easier for people to get treatment. Others think that the best approach to talking about mental health is to focus on the similarities, thinking of mental health problems as a continuum from the normal “being stressed out” to extreme reactions to stress. There’s no easy solution to this dilemma.
GainPlay Studio designs and develops serious games that make you think and feel. Based in Utrecht the Netherlands, this small independent studio creates pioneering game experiences that cause fun and impactful play. At GainPlay Studio we incorporate evidence based scientific knowledge into our games from a user centered point of view.
