Digital Mahjong System: Towards Precise Cognitive Assessment with IoT Technologies

Ning An, Enze Hu, Yanrui Guo, Jiaoyun Yang, Rhoda Au, Huitong Ding

Abstract: To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to apply IoT technologies to transform the popular Mahjong game into a Digital Mahjong System (DMS) for digitally performing cognitive assessments. People have started exploring digital cognitive assessment tools for better objectivity and simplification. However, most of these tools are not friendly for older adults. This paper aims to address this issue by integrating IoT technologies with Mahjong to make cognitive assessment simpler and more engaging for older adults. DMS has the following features: 1) integrating motion tracking devices into Mahjong tiles and transferring them into Digital Mahjong Tiles (DMTs), which can precisely capture their moving trajectory during the assessment, 2) using a Near Field Communication reader to configure DMT’s primary data, 3) supporting Over-The-Air Device Firmware Update that can be done remotely via Bluetooth, and 4) developing a charging base that can charge 16 DMTs simultaneously using Qi wireless charging standard. With further testing, the DMS has the potential to become a digital platform to implement and test various cognitive assessment tools integrating Mahjong elements.