AI-powered board game can help reduce social isolation in older adults
AI-powered board game can help reduce social isolation in older adults
AI-powered board game can help reduce social isolation in older adults
By Catherine Graham
Summary
It's no mystery why online games became an even-more popular pastime during the COVID-19 pandemic: They provide entertainment and social connection, while also keeping our brains stimulated.
A new AI-powered game developed by a team of Johns Hopkins undergraduates aims to bring those positive benefits to older adults in retirement communities.
The online game is styled after the classic Hasbro board game "Guess Who?" and is specially designed to provide fun and engagement for older users who live alone.
The team of computer science majors-Rebecca Muratore, Rena Liu, Nicholas Bowen, and Marcelo Morales-wanted to create a technology product that would support older adults experiencing loneliness and social isolation.
"We really liked the idea of creating a game that also has a voice interaction aspect to it, so users can have real conversations through the game. Not only does it keep older adults mentally active but it provides some companionship, too," Muratore said.
The biggest technical feat for the student team was training the natural language processing model so the game would generate human-like responses.
What the team also found is that from children to older adults, everyone loves a good board game.
Reference
Graham, C. (2022, April 28). AI-powered board game can help reduce social isolation in older adults. Retrieved May 5, 2022, from https://hub.jhu.edu/2022/04/28/ai-board-game-with-virtual-opponent-reduces-social-isolation/