Space Scavenger

References

Description

Stress measurement is often quite intrusive, with cortisol measurements from saliva samples or heart rate measurements. However, there are less obtrusive ways to measure stress, such as using psychological tasks as it has been found that stress influences cognitive performance. Unfortunately, these psychological tasks often require participants to perform hundreds of repetitive trials, making them time-consuming and tiresome. Additionally, Game-based digital biomarkers, which are sensors or trackers of an individual's health, have shown potential in measuring cognitive performance. To explore the effectiveness of games in measuring stress, Space Scavenger was developed. Space Scavenger is a space-themed reaction game that combines two psychological tasks in one game, aiming to improve engagement and time efficiency in stress measurement. Space Scavenger was tested to find that it functions similarly to the psychological tasks it is based on. In a follow-up study Space Scavenger was tested if it can detect stress in players. The results if this study showed significant differences in one of the tasks, indicating use of engaging game-based digital biomarkers but further development is needed.