Designing virtual reality-based serious games for dementia prevention [Game4Mind]

Victòria Brugada-Ramentol

Victòria Brugada-Ramentol

Workshop Coordinator

Victòria Brugada-Ramentol, PhD is the Lead Neuroscientist at Virtuleap. Victòria has 10+ years of experience in neuroscience research. Specifically, in the use of virtual reality in the context of neuroscientific research. She obtained her PhD degree from Universidade do Porto and the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme (Champalimaud Research, Lisbon Portugal) on the role of visuomotor integration in self-representation and action recognition using a custom-made virtual reality environment. Victòria’s expertise ranges from project design to data collection and analysis. At Virtuleap, her multidisciplinary role includes working closely together with the game design team in the game concept design and development, data analysis, providing scientific documentation, and writing articles for peer-reviewed journals and national and interactional presentations.

Bebiana Sá Moura

Bebiana Sá Moura

Speaker

Bebiana Sá Moura is the Head of Grants & Partnerships at Virtuleap. She holds a PhD degree from University of Porto, and has 10+ years of scientific research background in top Universities, including Yale and Heidelberg University. Experienced in drug discovery and development, contributed to the development roadmap of several new drugs in different therapeutic areas. Furthermore, she has extensive experience in setting up productive partnerships, securing funding and implementing several European projects related to active and healthy aging.

Filipe Baptista

Filipe Baptista

Speaker

Filipe Baptista is a game designer, programmer and sound artist. In 2015, he graduated in Computer Science and holds a Master’s degree in Multimedia from Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon). Since then, he has been designing and programming videogames and digital interactive experiences of different sorts. He has participated in several game jams and worked on two authorial independent titles. Moreover, he has worked with videogames, installation art and AR/VR media. In the last three years has been focused on crafting VR experiences with Unity and is, since then, a member of Virtuleap’s development team.

Game4Mind is an original workshop that provides knowledge on the importance of maintaining cognitive fitness and the tools to be able to conceptualize a virtual reality-based game. During our workshop, participants will be presented with information on the game design framework and then be invited to co-create, prototype and pitch a new VR-based game based on a clinically validated neuropsychological game. With our workshop we aim to promote the importance of cognitive fitness and the role of VR-based games in maintaining a healthy cognitive function. Game4Mind will also pose a unique opportunity for collaboration among disciplines and stakeholders in the design of technology-driven solutions to address emerging trends in health and aging.