JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Continuous, preventive monitoring of cognitive and physical function outside clinical visits faces two gaps: evaluation is typically tied to fixed centers, limiting access for those who cannot easily travel, and conventional test batteries are isolated, repetitive tasks that elicit low engagement. Integrating heterogeneous tasks, a relocatable standardized environment, and behavioral-data recording in one platform could address both gaps.

Objective:

This study aimed to develop the Mobile Escape-Game Lab (MEGL), a relocatable serious game platform integrating four cognitive and physical task modules into a single escape-room–inspired experience, and to evaluate its perceived usability, subjective workload, and self-reported user experience in healthy adults.

Methods:

In this single-session development and usability study, MEGL chained four fixed-order modules—an ankle-controlled game (Balance Wood), a digital Trail Making Test (d-TMT), a tabletop Block Design Test (BDT), and an object-search task—guided by a scenario-based chatbot, deployed within TLL+ (Trailer Living Lab+), a relocatable trailer providing a standardized, daily-living-style environment with pre-installed sensing. Healthy adults were recruited by convenience sampling at Tokyo Metropolitan University and tested individually in April–May 2026. We assessed usability with the System Usability Scale (SUS; 0–100), per-module workload with the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX; 1–7), and experience with a 6-item scale (1–5) and open-ended questions. Data were summarized descriptively with 95% confidence intervals (CIs); process data were recorded only as an exploratory illustration.

Results:

Of 14 enrolled adults, 12 (11 men, 1 woman; mean age 30.2 years, SD 4.2) were analyzed. The mean SUS score was 71.25 (95% CI 64.8–77.7), above the reference score of 68, although the 95% CI included values below this reference, indicating potentially acceptable perceived usability with substantial uncertainty in this small sample. Per-module NASA-TLX workload was modest and broadly similar, ranging from 2.86 (95% CI 2.35–3.37) for d-TMT to 3.43 (95% CI 2.83–4.03) for object search. The overall-experience composite was positive (mean 3.90; 95% CI 3.53–4.28), led by enjoyment (4.33), while willingness to use MEGL again for regular health monitoring was lowest (3.67). Qualitative feedback highlighted the immersive escape-room–inspired framing and chatbot guidance as strengths, and instruction clarity and task flow as the main area for improvement.

Conclusions:

MEGL's distinguishing contribution is the integration of heterogeneous cognitive and physical gameplay tasks, chatbot guidance, behavioral-data recording, and a relocatable standardized environment within one operable platform. Relative to single-domain serious games and fixed living labs, this integrated design is intended to combine engaging task delivery with improved access and cross-site comparability, although these intended benefits were not evaluated here. In healthy adults, MEGL showed preliminary evidence of acceptable perceived usability, modest subjective workload, and positive self-reported experience. With further evaluation and validation, MEGL could help bring standardized functional-task experiences closer to communities; health-monitoring applications remain a longer-term possibility.