Thesis Project Form

This thesis aims to develop a serious game designed to assess social apathy, characterized by a decreased motivation to engage with others, specifically targeting young people.

The objectives are to develop a serious game for the early detection of social apathy and to assess its effectiveness. It is necessary to study the literature to consider the available approaches. Then, to develop a storytelling approach for the game with the support of ASL1 psychologists, and to design the interactions and visual appearance of the serious game. Moreover, the avatar's visual aspect will also be addressed. Specific attention will be paid to the gamification of the clinical procedure for apathy detection, and the adaptation of the interface for the use with a specific target population, young people. The hardware platform can be non-immersive virtual reality, e.g. tablets, or/and immersive virtual reality, i.e. head-mounted displays. An experimental session with healthy volunteers will assess the developed serious game; possibly, patients might be involved. The experimental outcomes will be analyzed.

The objectives are to develop a serious game for the early detection of social apathy and to assess its effectiveness. It is necessary to study the literature to consider the available approaches. Then, to develop a storytelling approach for the game with the support of ASL1 psychologists, and to design the interactions and visual appearance of the serious game. Moreover, the avatar's visual aspect will also be addressed. Specific attention will be paid to the gamification of the clinical procedure for apathy detection, and the adaptation of the interface for the use with a specific target population, young people. The hardware platform can be non-immersive virtual reality, e.g. tablets, or/and immersive virtual reality, i.e. head-mounted displays. An experimental session with healthy volunteers will assess the developed serious game; possibly, patients might be involved. The experimental outcomes will be analyzed.