A multidisciplinary journal on gaming and gamification for health education/promotion, teaching and social change.

This paper presents the development of a Virtual Reality environment for drone pilot training using interaction devices. We built an immersive interface in order to enhance the user experience in UAV training tasks comparing to the traditional control interfaces. To reach this aim, we chosen the Microsoft Kinect to control the drone and the Oculus Rift to visualize the scene, as well as keyboard, mouse and joystick support. As a result, we created a virtual environment in which users can train the drone pilot safely. Despite a good impression on preliminary tests, the solution still needs an evaluation by users and improvements in Physics simulations.

Background: Chronic noncommunicable diseases such as arterial hypertension have a high impact in the context of public health. Previous studies have shown improvements in blood pressure due to simple lifestyle changes, which were supported by electronic health (eHealth) solutions. Objective: The aim of this study is to develop an eHealth platform and assess the effects of its use on the health conditions of patients with hypertension, with assistance from health professionals in the public health system of a Brazilian city. Methods: The platform will include a server that centralizes all the data and business rules, a website dashboard for health professionals, and a mobile app for patients. We will analyze the effects of its use through a controlled, nonrandomized, nonblind, prospective, monocentric clinical trial. We will enroll 68 participants diagnosed with arterial hypertension and under medical follow-up and categorize them into two groups. The participants of the intervention group will use the platform as a monitoring method, whereas the participants of the control group will use conventional methods. In both groups, we will assess and compare the evolution of blood pressure and treatment adherence before, during, and after the intervention. Results: The project was funded at the end of 2018. We have been developing the software since 2019 with plans to complete it in 2020, and we will enroll patients between 2020 and 2021. We expect to submit the first results for publication in 2020. Conclusions: For the primary outcome, we expect a reduction and stabilization of blood pressure. For the secondary outcomes, we hope to see improvements in treatment adherence, physical activities and dietary practices, and acceptance of the eHealth platform. In public health, the technology that favors disease control also helps reduce complications and, consequently, treatment costs. The platform might encourage the adaptation of medical assistance to incorporate this technology into patient monitoring. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/15299