Age Invaders: User Studies of Intergenerational Computer Entertainment Eng Tat Khoo 1 , Tim Merritt 2 , Adrian Cheok 1 , Mervyn Lian 1 , and Kelvin Yeo 1 1 Mixed Reality Lab, National University of Singapore 2 Jyvaskyla University http://www.mixedrealitylab.org Abstract. The design goal of the Age Invaders 1 system is to make a mixed reality interaction platform that can facilitate meaningful social interaction with players, from many backgrounds and demographics, at appropriate levels of physical exertion for their age. This paper discusses a multidisciplinary approach to analyzing the user experience and re- assessment of the context of use of the Age Invaders system. This paper tests the effectiveness of the system in promoting the intended design goals and the results show strong support for intergenerational interac- tion using digital technology. Additionally, the results of the study help to focus the refinements of the existing platform and development of further novel games and interactive applications for this mixed reality system, and provide insights into the user in complex mixed reality ex- periences. Keywords: Mixed reality entertainment, social computing, family entertainment, game play, user-centered design. 1 Introduction The research reported here aims to show the user acceptance of the Age Invaders (A-I) game system [4] by players of various ages. As a design goal, Age Invaders aims to provide engaging physical and virtual play for elderly and young to- gether in a novel mixed reality entertainment system. Unlike standard computer systems, A-I requires whole body movements over a large play area rather than constraining the user to sit in front of the computer for long periods of time. Age Invaders provides family entertainment that is attractive to, and inclusive of, all family members including the elderly and young. The system encourages and promotes human interaction at the physical, mental and emotional level. A-I provides a means to re-connect family members in shared activities across locations, thus increasing cross-generational interaction. The research situation aimed to better understand the users of the A-I system and to take inventory of 1 Videos and photos of the work can be accessed via the website http://ageinvaders.mixedrealitylab.org Email address: contact@mixedrealitylab.org L. Ma, R. Nakatsu, and M. Rauterberg (Eds.): ICEC 2007, LNCS 4740, pp. 231–242, 2007. c  IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2007