Gamifying the Exploration of Home Mobility Barriers for Individuals with Limited Mobility

Abstract

With advancements in the health sector, people tend to live longer and age in place. With aging comes disabilities and mobility problems. Whether these problems appear suddenly due to accidents or slowly due to aging or chronic diseases, individual homes might not be ready for the change, and mobility barriers could be created. This dissertation aims to design and develop a prototype of a teaching solution with gamification elements and test the prototype with a diverse set of participants to evaluate the prototype's usability, effectiveness in identifying barriers for individuals with mobility disabilities, and overall user satisfaction. To understand the context and elicit requirements, a scoping review was created. Despite many advancements and technologies and extensive literature on disabilities and barriers, there is not much information about gamification in this context, making it a significant research opportunity. This dissertation contributes to both practical solutions for accessibility in home environments and theoretical advancements in the fields of gamification and assistive technologies. The resulting tool not only serves as a means to identify and mitigate barriers but also fosters empathy and inclusivity.