Development and Usability Study of Older Adults in Motion-Captured Serious Game Incorporating Olfactory Stimulations

A research team led by Junpei Zhong has published a study on SENSO, a novel virtual reality serious game designed for early cognitive assessment in older adults. The system uniquely incorporates olfactory stimulations alongside standard visual and auditory cues within a motion-captured, teahouse-themed environment. In a usability study with 41 healthy seniors, participants completed three distinct tasks—Dim Sum (selection/placement), Steamer (timing/sequencing), and Cashier (counting/transactions)—while the system logged performance metrics like accuracy and completion time. The game received a high System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 82 out of 100, indicating strong user acceptance among the target demographic.

Performance analysis revealed task-dependent sensitivity to age-related cognitive changes. While the simpler Dim Sum task showed no significant decline, the more cognitively demanding Steamer task, which involves timing and sequencing under olfactory cues, demonstrated clear performance drops with increasing age. This pattern allows researchers to establish normative baselines for healthy aging. The findings suggest that adapting complex, multisensory tasks within SENSO can optimize its efficacy as a tool for predicting risks of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, positioning it as a viable, engaging, and non-pharmacological intervention for cognitive preservation and early detection.