Designed in 2016, Sea Hero Quest is a smartphone game of a particular kind. It aims to study the ability of players to orient themselves in a three-dimensional space. The aim is to help diagnose the Alzheimer’s diseaseExplain The Conversation.
Four million players between 2016 and 2019
Positioning and movement in space are among the first cognitive abilities to be affected in people with dementia, remember West France. Therefore, the goal of video game is to collect, compile and analyze data. To do this, more than four million gamers around the world have downloaded and tested Sea Hero Quest between 2016 and 2019.
The principle of the title developed in collaboration with caregivers is to memorize on a map the route of a boat in order to make it pass through specific points. Each player must, within a limited time, guide the boat in a three-dimensional universe following a determined path. Several levels of difficulty are provided. The results are then forwarded to researchers.
Cultural and demographic factors
Having a bad sense of direction is not necessarily synonymous with dementia, assures the English-language media. Cultural and demographic factors also come into play. To obtain convincing results, the doctors were able to compare the performance of hundreds of thousands of players with the same characteristics.
The data collected by the researchers also made it possible to demonstrate that players who grew up in an urban environment have an average less sense of direction than those from a rural background, regardless of their age, gender or level of education. The scientists finally clarified that it is during childhood that each individual permanently shapes his sense of direction.