Cooperative Play for Preventive Healthcare in the Office Christoph Obermair, Michael Lankes, and Celina Raffl ICT&S Center, University of Salzburg Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse 18, 5020 Salzburg, Austria. {christoph.obermair, michael.lankes, celina.raffl}@sbg.ac.at Abstract. In this paper we introduce a novel technological concept to support and improve preventive healthcare for office employees. The overall approach is to motivate and persuade employees to pro-actively impact their personal health-status. Therefore we propose a cooperative (computer-) game, which utilises affective interfaces and persuasive technologies to enhance motivation and cooperation of the employees. Our approach is based on the TripleC-Model (cognition, communication, cooperation), which allows for addressing health issues on an individual and on a social level. 1 Introduction The omnipresence of office computers implicated more working comfort and increased productivity. But it also started discussions concerning health problems stemming from computer work. Especially Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) are a major problem for employees as well as business and national economies. They are the most common work-related health problem in Europe, affecting also workers in low-intensity static work (e.g. computer work) [1]. In order to tackle this problem, it is not sufficient to refer only to the obligations of the employer, such as providing ergonomic preconditions for the office or creating state-of-the-art computer workspaces. It is also necessary to address the self- responsibility, the sensitisation and the continuous motivation of the employees regarding preventive healthcare. But many people are not aware that their habits while working at a computer (e.g. a bad sitting posture, staring onto the screen for hours without breaks) might have negative effects and can seriously and long- lastingly impact their well-being. Nevertheless, there are many strategies and physical exercises that may help employees to maintain physical health at work. The overall aim of our work is to highlight ways which foster the employees' awareness for potential health risks in office work. Moreover employees should be persuaded to pro-actively impact their personal physical well-being. For this purpose we introduce a game concept which encourages players to cooperate in order to build a “preventive healthcare community”. 2 Background Our approach is based on the TripleC-Model [2], an evolutionary stage model that describes the emergence of cooperation – from cognition and communication – as ultimate goal in social systems. The TripleC-Model considers both the indiviudals' (subjective) knowledge and the collective (objective) knowledge. Thus, it allows for addressing and balancing the individuals' and the group's needs on health issues.