Go to main content

University of Silesia in Katowice

  • Polish
  • English
Research Excellence Initiative
Logo European City of Science 2024

PoCoBonGo

Post-COVID-19 rehabilitation based on serious games methodology

grafika

Using games to mitigate the deterioration of cognitive functions and improve the affective state after suffering from COVID-19.

COVID-19, logic games, rehabilitation, biofeedback, COVID fog


The main goal of the research project is to determine which constructive elements of analogue games have therapeutic advantages for cognitive, affective, and social functions impaired by conditions of living in isolation (e.g. due to the pandemic). The actions are consistent with the scope of the Priority Research Areas: Harmonious Human Development – concern for health protection and quality of life.

During the pandemic, board games were one of the ludic methods providing people working in front of computers with a “digital detox”.  Along with the increase of remote work significance, in 2020 only, the analogue games market recorded a 20% income increase even despite logistic problems in shipments from China, where many components are manufactured.

At the same time, in the scope of education and psychology, the reflection on designing games as specifically directed at the psychological functioning prophylaxis in regard to living in isolation is a technically non-existent field. In our project, we want to start a reliable reflection over the usage of particular mechanisms applied in board games as elements influencing three basic parameters impaired during pandemic situations and isolation in general. It refers to cognitive functions, affective states and interpersonal communication.

Thanks to the results of research, the community of board game designers will receive additional invaluable information on design mechanisms, which bring the best effects in terms of improving particular psychological parameters. Based on that, they will be able to equip their products in a way these products can serve people the best.

PROJECT LEADER

TOMASZ KOPCZYŃSKI, PhD

dr Tomasz Kopczyński

Photo from the gallery of Tomasz Kopczyński, PhD

Tomasz Kopczyński, PhD
Institute of Pedagogy
e-mail: tomasz.kopczynski@us.edu.pl

  • Andrzej Swinarew, PhD, DSc, Associate Professor
  • Arkadiusz Rojczyk, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professore
  • Paweł Janik, PhD
  • Maciej Bożek, PhD

International Consultants

Prof. Martin PETREK, MD, PhD. Specialisation: pathophysiology. Research field: immunology and genetics of respiratory diseases. Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine. Associate Professor.

Branislav Gerazov, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies, Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia. Field of interest: speech and audio processing, machine learning, biomedical electronics and signal processing, acoustics.

More about the project

pionki do gry // board game pawns

Photo from Pexels

popular science article

Analogue games as the cure for post-COVID fog

Silesian Research | 20 June 2022

Many people who suffered from COVID-19 complain of brain fog. It is a syndrome of neurological symptoms consisting of, e.g. impaired concentration and short-term memory, disorientation, and fatigue. Brain fog can occur in various diseases such as auto-immune diseases, borreliosis, neurosis, or chronic fatigue syndrome. Recently, it is often heard as a complication after suffering from COVID-19. Isolation during the pandemic has caused impairment in cognitive, affective, and social functions in many people…

read the article

News

19 April 2022

Completing the stage of prototyping a logic game and its first playtests.

9 plansz, kilka pionków, kilka kostek do gry

Photo from the gallery of Tomasz Kopczyński, PhD

return to top