Music-based serious games

Digital games are increasingly being used in education, healthcare and rehabilitation, but they are still far from accessible to people with a wide range of abilities and needs, such as those with visual impairments, attention difficulties or sensory processing challenges. This project therefore explores how inclusive, music-based serious games can support the cognitive development and social inclusion of people with special needs. The games focus on areas such as attention, motivation and self-regulation, while remaining enjoyable to play together with family and friends.

Designers, researchers, therapists, education professionals and people with special needs are working together to further develop three existing game prototypes. Music and rhythm are at the heart of the games and are combined with elements such as sound, visuals and haptic interaction. The project explores how these different elements can be adapted to a range of user needs without causing sensory overload.

A key challenge is to make the games accessible to people with different needs while also enabling people with different abilities to play together. The project therefore examines how the intensity of visual, auditory and haptic stimuli can be adjusted, and how feedback and difficulty levels can dynamically adapt to individual players and mixed-ability groups. Together with users, caregivers, therapists, designers and researchers, the games are designed, tested and further refined in real-world settings, including at home and in care environments.

In addition to further developing the three games, the project will generate knowledge for the creative industries on inclusive game design, multimodal design and responsible game mechanics. This knowledge will be translated into reusable design guidelines, practical checklists, case studies and example libraries for sound, rhythm, visuals and haptics. Engagement, focus and usability will also be systematically evaluated throughout the project.

In this way, the project contributes to the development of inclusive and responsible serious games for use in healthcare, well-being and education. The intended outcomes are not only societal, by supporting greater inclusion and well-being, but will also provide the creative industries with validated design knowledge and more widely applicable tools and expertise.

€123.629 in PPP-funding will be allocated to the project.