Student game for motor skills wins award

A team of students from the interdisciplinary Building Serious Games master course has won the Best Student Game Award at the 13th Game and Learning Alliance (GALA) Conference in Berlin.

Their game, Pizzicato, was developed by TU Delft students Martin Starkov, Scott Jochems, Luca Stoffels, Ravi Snellenberg, and Joris Rijsdijk. They collaborated with neuropsychological researcher Dr Rebecca Schaeffer from Leiden University and her student Marijn Coers. The Building Serious Games course is led by Dr Rafael Bidarra from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science.

Music for motor skills

Pizzicato is an activation game designed to make practising motor skills more enjoyable through music. Regaining fine motor skills in the hands requires repetitive exercises. Insights from neuropsychology show that providing auditory feedback on movements – known as sonification – is an effective way to study and improve motor behaviour.

The students designed Pizzicato as a rhythm-based game where players pinch their fingers together in time to the music. Participants reported not only improved motor skills but a stronger sense of autonomy as well.

How does it work?

Curious about your own motor skills? Pizzicato is available online and works in any browser with a connected webcam. Simply activate your camera to detect your hand and fingers, choose a melody (slow, medium, or fast), and move the indicated finger at the right time and place towards your thumb.

The therapeutic potential of Pizzicato is being further investigated in clinical settings. So far, the game has been tested on young, healthy volunteers and has been optimised to keep players engaged.