Craig Caldwell, Carol Bruggers, Roger Altizer, Troy D’Ambrosio , Robert Kessler and Brianne Christiansen

Abstract:
Video games provide new opportunities for improving patients’ quality-of-life via empowerment through physical exercise and interactive feedback. This paper presents an incentive-based video game that transforms physical exercise into mental empowerment to help fight cancer via positive metaphoric visualization. This video game technology can enhance patients’ resilience via mechanisms that stimulate coupling between the brain reward systems and physical actions. While the Patient Empowerment (PE) Exercise Video Game is an example of an active-player interactive game designed for pediatric cancer patients, this concept can be applied to neurological, metabolic or cardiovascular diseases.