Physical decline
is associated with old age. Engagement in regular physical exercises can help
elderly people improve their physical functionalities, as well as cognitive
abilities. Among modern technologies, digital games have the potential to
promote elderly people’s engagement in physical exercises through fun and
enjoyable gameplay. Although commercial digital games show promise, most of
them are not designed for elderly people. The literature also suggests that
more studies need to be undertaken to understand the usability and usefulness
of digital games for elderly people. Hence, in this study, we designed and
developed a digital game-based Skiing activity for elderly people. Then, we evaluated
it with the Finnish and Japanese elderly participants in Finland and Japan to
investigate their feedback towards the usability and usefulness of the game.
The findings from both studies show that digital games are useful for promoting
elderly people’s engagement in physical activities. While digital games are
promising to be used as an alternative solution for promoting the Japanese
elderly participant’s physical activities, the Finnish elderly participants
recommend to use it when they don’t have access to non-digital physical
exercises. The lessons learned from this study can help researchers and
practitioners gain insights into game design and development for elderly people
and their physical activities.