The has been a growing trend within the standard news media of reporting on the usage of gaming technologies to help the elderly. It has mostly been focused on how consumer systems such as the Wii have been used for socialization and rehabilitation in the senior community. With the negative light that gaming receives so often in news coverage I wanted to look further into the positive things done with gaming. That’s the reason I scheduled time with Dakim, even though it’s products are well outside the demographics for our readers.

Dakim Brain Fitness is a tool used to work with the elderly to improve or regain cognitive skills. It is most often used when working with Alzheimer’s patients to help re-learn or keep steady their memory and concentration skills. It works through a series of games. The individual games themselves are the kinds of games that anyone who has ever picked up a puzzle book would be familiar with. The twist is that these games are set up with the target audience in mind; movie clips from the 50’s and 60’s and themed games based on the types of interests often found among seniors.

Previously, Dakim Brain Fitness had only been available as a kiosk system with touch screen controls and automated updates via network connection. These kiosks were designed with senior living facilities in mind. The Brain Fitness program has now been released as software, usable on PC and Mac desktops.