After acute care and rehabilitation, people with acquired brain damage often fall into gaps in care. Therapy options are limited, especially in rural areas, and the transition to an independent life poses major challenges for many. The goal for the students in Prof. Michael Hebel's course was to develop serious games that promote daily routines, strengthen motivation for self-help, train motor, language and cognitive skills, facilitate social contacts and even support long-term career prospects. A particular focus was placed on accessibility and usability: the games had to be intuitive to use, even for people with motor impairments. In addition, therapists should be able to control content via access management. Technically, the teams relied on a wide variety of platforms – from smartphones to VR glasses.
From the concept phase to the presentation
The projects went through several stages of development. Collaboration with the district of Swabia took place via weekly sprint reviews in which Prof. Dr. Alexander Würfel and Tamara Langhof from the Faculty of Health Management and Stefan Doerle, project manager MeH MoS from the district of Swabia, provided feedback on the games that had been created. In addition, Stefan Doerle had recruited a large number of rehabilitation facilities in the district of Swabia where the students could test their games directly with therapists and patients. The exhibition provided the setting for the results to be shown publicly for the first time – and the response was overwhelming. Visitors were able to try out the games for themselves and talk to the teams.
Award ceremony: Exhibition prizes and special prize from the district of Swabia
At the end of the event, several awards were presented in various categories. The exhibition prize was awarded to the following teams:
- HNU Exhibition Prize: Greatest Social Impact: Team Blickpunkt, Communication and Design for Sustainability (M.A.) programme
- HNU Exhibition Prize: Team Mensa Check, Digital Enterprise Management (B.Sc.) programme
- TechLab Highest Innovative Strength: Team Fake-News-Radar, Artificial Intelligence and Information Management programme, and Team Smart-Kickert, Information Management Automotive programme
- TechLab Audience Favourite: Team Smart-Kicker, Information Management Automotive programme
- GPM Best Art: Rite of Red Snow, Team Burning Trashcan, Game Production and Management programme
- GPM Best Mechanics: Mercury, Team MouseWorks, Game Production and Management degree programme
- GPM Best Sound: Rootnote, Team Spore Games, Game Production and Management degree programme
- GPM Best Game: Rootnote, Team Spore Games, Game Production and Management degree programme
- Community Award Best Booth: Razloc, Team Three Noodles, Game Production and Management degree programme
The first special prize from the district of Swabia went to the team "4AM" for their game "Herz & Bohne" (Heart & Bean). The second special prize went to the team "AngryPike" for their game "Schraube für Schraube" (Screw by Screw). The jury members Prof. Dr. Alexander Würfel and Tamara Langhof from HNU, Stefan Dörle, Monika Mailer, marketing team leader at the district of Swabia, and Christoph Kalchgruber, managing director of the Augsburg Aftercare Centre, evaluated the games in terms of therapeutic relevance, complexity, aesthetics and design, as well as fun and motivation.
Stefan Doerle summed up: “The collaboration with the students at HNU shows how innovative and practical games can be in supporting people with acquired brain damage. It is impressive how sensitively the teams have addressed the needs of those affected and translated them into creative solutions that are suitable for everyday use. Such projects make an important contribution to supplementing therapeutic services even after rehabilitation. They help to enable participation.”
A project designed to have an impact
The serious games developed will then be tested with real patients in Augsburg. This gives students the opportunity to realise a university project that can be used directly in the everyday lives of people with acquired brain damage.
Prof. Dr Alexander Würfel emphasised: "The current project brings to life the idea that originated in 2019 as part of the MeH MoS research project carried out in collaboration with the district of Swabia. The results are impressive: patients are actively involved in the care process. Location-independent use creates new accessibility. Logging activities can make progress more transparent and at the same time create starting points for further development of the services. The Faculty of Health Management and the Game Production and Management programme at HNU offer a perhaps unique framework for developing such new approaches in care management."
Background to the MeH MoS project
The students' work is part of a larger scientific framework: the MeH MoS research project with the district of Swabia has been running since 2019 and investigates how people with acquired brain damage can be supported through digital and playful approaches. The current game project semester is already the second student project to emerge from MeH MoS. Back in 2024, an initial project was launched in cooperation with Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK) in Finland, in which students from the "Business Administration in Healthcare" (BGW) programme developed motion capture sequences and game concepts. These early concepts were presented to experts to assess whether the approach would be accepted in principle – which was clearly the case. The prototypes that have now been developed can be tested in institutions and, in the future, used in the everyday lives of those affected.
About the HNU exhibition
The exhibition takes place at the end of each semester and is much more than just an exhibition for students from different degree programmes across all three HNU faculties: they have the opportunity to present their projects to an external audience at specially designed stands complete with promotional materials, make valuable contacts and gain initial experience in dealing with trade fair visitors and potential customers. The exhibition is organised and moderated by students.
In the winter semester 2025/2026, projects from the following degree programmes were represented:
- Communication and Design for Sustainability (MA.)
- Digital Enterprise Management (BSc.)
- Game Production and Management (BA.)
- Information Management Automotive (BSc.)
- Information Management & Corporate Communications (BA.)
- Artificial Intelligence and Information Management (BSc.)
