Kimotopia: The use of a serious game for learning about cancer

Resumo

Currently, digital games are used as tools to aid the learning of chil-dren and adolescents in diverse areas including health-related topics. Kimoto-pia is a serious game that provides interaction and immersion through the useof Virtual Reality (VR). The game was developed for children and adolescentswith cancer, in order to provide relevant information about the disease duringmedical procedures, and to allow the player to be more collaborative in their tre-atment. In addition, the purpose was to create a game that would facilitate ob-servation by the health professional and would allow for control and monitoringin real time; this would enable collaboration with the game/player interaction,making the virtual environment more stimulating than the real environment. Thegame was developed in the form of modules, including a management modulethat is used by a health professional to obtain information and make changeswhen necessary. The game consists of three phases, each corresponding to acommon activity of treatment. In this way, children can learn about the impor-tance of these activities and can come to understand the characteristics of thedisorder in an interactive way.