| Sumario: | Purpose Much of the research related to aging focuses on the elders' increased need for assistance and the tendency for people to neglect elders' psychological and social needs. It is vital to understand that mental and cognitive aging also plays an important role in physical aging. If the elderly are more physically and psychological cared for as they get older, then the burden they often place on society will be reduced1. Therefore, an interactive system has been proposed in order to encourage older people to engage in more leisure activities and take care of their physical and mental health. Observation in the Chang Gung Health and Culture Village was conducted and steps of the innovative product design and development (IPDD) approach were taken to design the proposed system. Method The IPDD approach2 systematically helps professionals from different fields collaborate ideas. The system is based on a 13-inch electric capacity type touch panel and a portable computer like ASUS ePC. The portable computer was hidden in the bottom of the touch panels. The software was developed within XNA and NET framework. Figure 7 demonstrates the overview of our software architecture. Results & Discussion Many articles have found that playing chess is an effective way to activate the brain3,4. In this research, the system provides a platform to increase social engagement and mental exercise for the elderly, and has been validated by a survey. The results show that the elderly could use the system to improve the likelihood of successful aging.
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