Cheery, researcher, driven, artificial intelligence, social, serious gaming, curious, creative, goal-directed, persuasive technologies, motivating, people person, full of energy!

With a background in Artificial Intelligence I have a keen interest in using smart, human-inspired technology to support humans. My research inititally focused on the development of cognitive models and intelligent agents to support virtual training. From there it was an easy step into the world of applied gaming and in studying how we can apply game technology and game mechanics for purposes such as training but also for behavior change.
At this moment I continue my work in developing smart technology to support training, decision-making and behavior change in virtual training and m/eHealth environments. However, many of the complex problems we face today cannot be solved by smart technology alone. The human continues to be key. As such I constantly evolve in learning about human behavior, connecting with end-users and building my professional network.

The work I will be presenting at Games4Health is a result of my one-year fellowship at the Mayo Clinic working on "Active Video Gaming for Healthy Aging". I conducted an intervention study to learn about determinants of active video gaming behavior of seniors living independently. An important question to investigate given that the potential health benefits ascribed to active video games can only be reached when older people actually start and continue to play these types of games.