A Proposal for Stress Management Using Serious Games

A Proposal for Stress Management Using Serious Games Associated to Virtual and

Augmented Reality

Renato de Aquino Lopes

Faculty of Computing, Federal University of Uberlandia

Uberlandia, Minas Gerais 38408-100, Brasil

Alexandre Cardoso

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia

Uberlandia, Minas Gerais 38408-100, Brasil

Edgard A. Lamounier Júnior

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia

Uberlandia, Minas Gerais 38408-100, Brasil

and

Ederaldo José Lopes

Institute of Psychology, Federal University of Uberlandia

Uberlandia, Minas Gerais 38408-100, Brasil

ABSTRACT

Occupational stress is a serious problem that affects a large

number of workers. Regardless financial or social status, age

and profession, a person exposed to stress may develop health

problems that can interfere with work and his quality of life.

Thus, due to absenteeism and reduced productivity, companies

lose money when its employees are stressed. In this scenario, it

is important that employees use strategies to deal with such

drawback. Coping with occupational stress can be basically

achieved, in two ways: problem-focused or emotion-focused.

Literature shows that strategies which take the needs of

individual workers into account have a greater chance of

success. On the other hand, computer games, mainly those

based upon Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR)

techniques, offer players some experiences like: relaxation,

sense of control, challenges, learning opportunities and

immersion. These characteristics can contribute to the control

process of occupational stress. The objective of this paper is to

propose a new methodology for occupational stress, focused on

emotion. In so doing, we use Serious Games and VR/AR

techniques, considering particular needs of the employee.

Keywords: Emotional stress, Human rehabilitation, Serious

games, Virtual and augmented reality.

1. INTRODUCTION

Stress has become a serious problem that affects many people.

When we consider stress in work environment, different

people, regardless financial status, age and profession can be

affected causing financial damage to companies and health

problems to the worker himself.

It was identified in 2000, that the occupational stress in United

States was the second most common cause of workers health

problems [1]. In the European Union (EU) in 2005, it was

found that occupational stress was the second health problem

notified affecting 22% of workers [2]. In a survey in Brazil

made by UnB (University of Brasilia) in 2011, revealed that

more than 1 million workers were out of work and receiving

sickness pay for problems caused by stress, depression,

alcoholism and others [3].

Companies and governments spend too much money on the

consequences related to stress at work. In 2002, the economic

cost of work-related stress in the EU was estimated in € 20

billions [2]. In Brazil, it is estimated that the damage will be

3.5% of GNP (Gross National Product) considering faults and

medical license [3].

On the other hand, when one worker is continuously exposed to

stress, he can develop psychological and physical problems that

affect his performance at work and also his personal life. In

recent years, the relationship between occupational stress and

mental health workers has been researched due to alarming

levels of temporary disability, absenteeism, early retirement

and health risks associated with professional activity [4].

There are several initiatives that promote events, discussions

and suggest practices to cope with stress. The STRESSLESS

project, started in 2010, has as main objective to develop and

validate an international useful tool to combat stress in

educators and educational institutions. One of the results of this

project is the practical guide intervention in work-related stress

[5]. Another initiative is the European Agency for Safety and

Health at Work (EU-OSHA) which aims to make safer,

healthier and more productive workplaces in Europe by

promoting a culture of risk prevention to improve working

conditions [2]. Brazil, along with other countries, participates

of the International Stress Management Association (ISMA),

which proposes to contribute to the orientation of technological

applications for the diagnosis and treatment of stress [6].

In this context, this paper aims to describe a new proposal to

cope with occupational stress using Serious Games through

Virtual/Augmented Reality techniques. The work is divided as

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follows: Section 2 describes Occupational Stress related to the

workplace. Section 3 shows the concepts of recovery stress.

Section 4 presents the concepts of coping with stress and height

the difference between recovery and coping. Section 5

describes the definition of Virtual Reality and Augmented

Reality. Section 6 shows the concepts of Serious Game.

Section 7 presents definition of Flow theory. Section 8 shows

related works and finally section 9 presents the proposal of

coping with stress using Serious Game associated to Virtual

and Augmented Reality. Section 10 describes de conclusions of

this work.

2. OCCUPATIONAL STRESS

The changing in the work processes brought greater flexibility,

agility and even comfort for some employees. However, for

others have brought job insecurity, reduced demands of work

and precarious forms of employment. Moreover, rapid

technological changes and strong demands for efficiency,

competitiveness and improvement in customer services form a

backdrop of continuous change. In this context the pressures at

work are gaining ground with the production of high levels of

occupational stress.

There are several stress definitions. Some addresses the

biochemical aspect of the human body, others addresses

behavioral aspects and still others the internal and external

conditions that can cause stress. In [7], stress is defined as an

imbalance ratio between environmental demands and personal

resources, in which individuals perceive demands that deplete

or exceed the resources they judge available to face the

situation that is assessing for them as threatening for its

balance. A common point in the definitions of stress is that they

characterize the stress as the body's response to certain

stressors.

Aspects involving the response to stressors are cognitive,

behavioral and physiological. The effectiveness of these three

levels ensures the person processing stressful information more

quickly. This enables them to get proper conduct on this

demand and facilitates a more positive body action [8].

When stress happens in the workplace it is called occupational

stress. In [9], occupational stress is defined as a product of the

relationship between the individual and the work environment,

in which the demands of that environment exceeds the coping

skills of the worker, causing excessive wear on the body and

interfering with his productivity.

Examples of factors that can cause stress (stressors) are:

unfavorable physical conditions, noise levels, excess heat, wear

in interpersonal relationships, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle etc.

In [10], the symptoms of occupational stress are divided into

three categories: physiological, behavioral and psychological.

The physiological is related to changes in metabolism. The

behavioral is observed in the changes related to productivity,

absenteeism, increased smoking and alcohol consumption, etc.

The psychological symptoms are observed in dissatisfaction at

work, stress, anxiety, instability, boredom and procrastination

activities.

3. RECOVERY STRESS

In daily life, people are confronted with numerous

requirements which make it necessary to allocate physical and

mental resources for performing a task. To recover from job

stress or other forms of strain, we need phases of rest that allow

us to renew the physical and psychological resources that were

utilized in the preceding situation [11].

Recovery refers to the processes opposite to stress and strain. It

can be understood as the process of replenishing depleted

resources or rebalancing suboptimal systems [12].

Probably, it is not a specific activity itself that helps to recover

from stress, but its underlying attributes such as relaxation or

psychological distance from stressors. Persons may differ with

respect to the specific activities they experience as recovering,

while the underlying psychological experiences crucial for

recovery may be relatively uniform across persons. For

example, one person might recover from job stress by going for

a walk while the other recovers by reading a book. Although

the activities are different, the underlying processes (e.g.,

relaxation) are rather similar [12].

In this sense, it's presented in [12] four basic feature to

recovery process, namely: Psychological Detachment,

Relaxation, Mastery Experiences and Control During Leisure

Time.

 Psychological Detachment: implies not to be

occupied by work-related duties such as receiving

job-related phone calls at home or actively engaging

in job-related activities. Psychological detachment

can also mean to disengage oneself mentally from

work. It implies to stop thinking about one’s work

and job-related problems or opportunities.

 Relaxation: is a process often associated with leisure

activities. The potential for relaxation experiences to

reduce activation and to increase positive affect are

important for recovery in two respects. First,

prolonged activation resulting particularly from

stressful work is an important mediating mechanism

by which job stressors translate into illness.

Therefore, processes that reduce this prolonged

activation are crucial in order to restore an

organism’s pre-stressor state. Second, positive

emotions can undo the effects of negative emotions.

Positive affect resulting from relaxation experiences

will be helpful in reducing negative affect resulting

from job stress.

 Mastery Experiences: refer to off-job activities that

distract from the job by providing challenging

experiences and learning opportunities in other

domains. These activities offer opportunities for

experiencing competence and proficiency. Mastery

experiences challenge the individual without

overtaxing his or her capabilities. Attaining mastery

experiences is not necessarily effortless but requires a

certain degree of self-regulation.

 Control During Leisure Time: it can be described as a

person’s ability to choose an action from two or more

options. Here, we will focus on the degree to which a

person can decide which activity to pursue during

leisure time as well as when and how to pursue this

activity. The experience of control during leisure

time may satisfy one’s desire for control by

2 SYSTEMICS, CYBERNETICS AND INFORMATICS VOLUME 12 - NUMBER 3 - YEAR 2014 ISSN: 1690-4524

increasing self efficacy and feelings of competence,

which in turn promote well-being. In this sense,

control may act as an external resource that enhances

recovery from work during off-job time. In addition,

control during leisure time gives the individual the

opportunity to choose those specific leisure activities

that he or she prefers and that may be especially

supportive for the recovery process.

In [12], it is suggested that stressors at work are associated with

the experience of recovery. Moreover, the experience of

recovery helps control stress and consequently contributes to

the psychological wellbeing of the person.

Another research about recovery reports the growing evidence

that recovery experiences (psychological detachment,

relaxation, master experience and control) are associated with

well-being [13]. Furthermore, it discusses the importance of

knowing whether these experiences can be deliberately

enhanced through interventions.

4. COPING WITH STRESS

Literature on stress indicates that each individual is affected

differently by stress situations. Some of them are more

susceptible to the consequences and others more resistant. This

way of dealing with an episode of stress may include attitudes,

for example, address the problem, seek social support, deny the

problem or distract yourself with other things and other various

strategies [14].

Thus, each person can use one or more strategies for coping

with stress. This choice can be based on several factors such as:

the level of stress, the type of stressors, past experience and the

tools available to deal with the problem. So, coping is defined

as a process by which the individual manages the demands of

the relationship between person and environment that are

evaluated as stressful and the emotions generated by them.

Facing a stressful situation, individuals undertake an

assessment of it, so the body can respond adequately to the

stressor, solving or mitigating the stressful situation [15].

In [15], coping has five functions:

 To adapt the individual to situations or negative

events.

 To maintain positive self-image.

 To maintain emotional balance.

 To maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships.

 To reduce threatening environmental conditions.

In the theory proposed by [15], coping can be divided into two

categories: emotion-focused coping and problem-focused

coping. In the first category, coping strategies propose

mechanisms capable of influencing the emotional part of the

individual lowering the level of stress, such as meditation. In

the second category, strategies seek to eliminate the sources of

stress present in the environment, such as noise. Sometimes, it

is not possible to eliminate the source of stress. So, in this

cases, it is useful the emotion-focused strategies able to

lowering the level of stress.

Thus, based on the theory of Lazarus and Folkman, stress can

be seen as shown in Figure 1. The person is target of stress’

sources (stressors). Thus, they may have a preventative

approach through a regular healthy diet, physical activity or

recreation. These activities help to deal with the health

consequences of stress. When the person is under stress he/she

can manifest individual symptoms such as insomnia and

difficulty feeding or situational symptoms, such as: low

productivity at work and difficult on their relationships. To

manager this situation person copes with stress. If it’s possible

to eliminate the source of stress, problem focused coping is

used. However, most of the times it’s not possible to eliminate

this source of stress and sometimes it’s not interesting to do so.

Thus, employees use some technique or tool to act on their

emotions (emotion focused coping). Therefore, it is important

to offer employees many tools as possible to decrease levels of

stress with emotion focused coping.

Prolonged exposure to stressors can exacerbate individual and

situational symptoms prompting the person to illness. In this

context, coping strategies focused on the problem are adopted

to eliminate the sources of stress. On the other hand, coping

strategies focused on emotion are used to decrease stress levels

through cognitive activities that work with the emotional side

of the person.

Coping refers to actions and strategies applied by an individual

to react to stress and problem situations. Although the coping

and recovery concepts certainly show some interrelations, these

concepts are not identical. Accordingly, recovery refers to

activities that allow individuals to regain consumed energy

after work, stress, and strain, while coping primarily describes

the individual’s direct reaction to a given stressor [11]. So,

recovery activities are done out of work place, while coping

activities are done in work place.

Fig. 1. Coping Stress

5. VIRTUAL REALITY AND AUGMENTED REALITY

Virtual Reality (VR) can be defined as an advanced interface to

computer applications, which allows the user movement

(navigation) and real-time interaction in a three dimensional

environment. It can make use of multisensory devices [16].

Coping

Problem-

focused

Emotion-

focused

Sources of

stress

Person

Stress Symptoms

Individual Situational

Prevention

Illness

Elimination / Reduction of Stress Level

ISSN: 1690-4524 SYSTEMICS, CYBERNETICS AND INFORMATICS VOLUME 12 - NUMBER 3 - YEAR 2014 3

According to [16], in the virtual environment people's sense

capabilities can be expanded in intensity, time and space. This

is achieved by three-dimensional modeling techniques used to

build virtual objects and scenery, where the user can navigate.

Thus, VR allows the user to interact with and portray

imaginary situations, like the fictional scenarios involving

static and moving virtual objects. Also allows to faithfully

reproduce real-life environments.

One of the advantage of this interface is the possibility to use

people’s knowledge of real world in the virtual world. Thus,

skills and intuitive knowledge can be used to deal with virtual

objects.

Augmented Reality (AR) can be defined as the enrichment of

the real environment with virtual objects, using some

technological device, running in real time [17].

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality can be compared as

follows [17]:

 Augmented Reality enriches the scene of the real

world with virtual objects, while VR is totally

computer generated;

 In Augmented Reality environment, the user retains

the sense of presence in the real world, while in

Virtual Reality, the visual sensation is controlled by

the system;

 Augmented Reality needs a mechanism to combine

the real and the virtual, while Virtual Reality needs a

mechanism for integrating the user to the virtual

world.

Beyond the capacity of involvement, motivation and interaction

also present in Virtual Reality, the use of Augmented Reality

provides the possibility of enriching real world scenes with

virtual objects. This feature allows systems to use Augmented

Reality using known scenarios for the patient, which may be

useful in certain therapies, such as physical rehabilitation.

6. SERIOUS GAME

In [18], it is described that serious game have a purpose beyond

entertainment, including (but not limited to) learning, health,

advertising and social changes. According to [19], the term

serious games has become used to identify games for a specific

purpose, i.e., to go beyond the idea of entertainment and offer

other types of experiences, such as those related to learning and

training.

In this sense, serious game using the known approach in the

gaming industry can make simulations more attractive and even

entertaining. It offers activities that promote the absorption of

concepts and psychomotor [19].

These features are important in healthcare such as: to motivate

a patient to do repetitive exercises provide training tools for

health professionals, provide environments/tools for treatment

at a lower cost or in remote locations.

It is clear, therefore, that a serious game is a special purpose

application, which requires support from professionals in the

field to which the content is related.

7. FLOW THEORY

According to [20], the concept of Flow was introduced by

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the mid-70s in one attempt to

explain happiness. Furthermore, Flow is a feeling of complete

focus and stimulated in an activity with a high level of

enjoyment and satisfaction.

During the experience of Flow, we lose the notion of time and

worry. In fact, our level of focus maximizes our performance

and feelings of pleasure from the activity [20].

Descriptions of the experience of flow is identical to those that

players experience when immersed in games, losing track of

time and external pressure, along with other interests [20]. So,

industry of games uses Flow theory to develop good and

interesting games. When a player is in flow, it means that the

game got a good balance between challenge and skills. Thus,

feelings like anxiety and boring are avoided.

8. RELATED WORK

Technologies that enable user interaction have characteristics

that can be used to assist the coping strategies of stress, among

which stand out: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and

Serious Games (SG). The main characteristics of AR and VR

are: immersion, engagement and interaction. Moreover, the

solutions using AR combine a 3D visual interface and tracking

system for the alignment of real and virtual objects. Recent

research also shows the power of gaming technologies to

support virtual communities and distributed training groups to

explain concepts and to engage and motivate people.

These technologies have been used in the area of physical

rehabilitation and coping with post-traumatic stress. Some

papers present AR systems to assist in human rehabilitation.

These systems have AR as one of the main technologies used

to develop the solution. For example, in [21], it is proposed a

training environment incorporating AR in a set of devices,

developed to extension fingers rehabilitation.

Beyond Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality is used in [22] to

describe a solution developed to help patients during the

learning phase of the use of upper limb prosthesis, without

actually having to use the prosthesis.

Other works propose the use of gaming technology to assist in

physical rehabilitation. For example, in [23], it is proposed a

game system (NeuroGym) based on biofeedback. This system

can be used to improve muscle activation and gait pattern of a

patient with spinal cord injury. The training with NeuroGym

also improved the balance in a group of older adults.

In [24], it is shown the implementation of a system for

capturing full body movement (MoCap), which together with a

biosignal acquisition device was incorporated into a game

engine. The study authors have implemented a serious game

aimed at the rehabilitation of patients with chronic low back

pain and neck pain.

It is clear, therefore, that the technologies of AR, VR and SG

are being researched to support the recovery process of people

who have suffered some kind of trauma. The characteristics of

engagement, immersion and motivation mean that they can be

4 SYSTEMICS, CYBERNETICS AND INFORMATICS VOLUME 12 - NUMBER 3 - YEAR 2014 ISSN: 1690-4524

used in the development of tools that help people in the

recovery process.

On the other hand, surveys conducted so far show that

technologies as AR, VR and SG together has not been explored

yet, as a whole, as a unique tool to support coping strategies of

stress at work. In [25], it is proposed a framework that allows

the identification and prediction of stress-generating activities.

However, when identified the occurrence of a stress-generating

activity, the framework proposes as coping strategies three

options: The postponement of the task, a better preparation for

the completion of the task or the time to perform some activity

that the person considers relaxing. It didn’t address the use of

technology in coping strategy.

Virtual Reality is used in occupational context in the

INTERSTRESS project. It aimed at developing innovative

ICT-based solutions for addressing the problem of

psychological stress in professional and social life [26]. From a

technological standpoint, the project involves a combination of

Virtual Reality, non-invasive biosensors and mobile tools to

provide personalized healthcare devices for stress prevention

and management. The specific objectives of this approach are:

 quantitative and objective assessment of symptoms

using biosensors and behavioral analysis;

 decision support for treatment planning through data

fusion and detection algorithms;

 provision of warnings and motivating feedback to

improve compliance and long-term outcome.

It is presented in [11] a study about the use of games to

recovery stress at work. This study proved by statistical data

that the use of computer and video games are effective in

combating stress. However, the research did not propose a

systematic way for the use of games in coping with stress.

Furthermore, the research was done with normal games, or

games that are not designed for the purpose of coping stress.

The effectiveness of using casual video games to improve

mood and lower the level of stress is also researched and

proven in [27]. Some research studying video games as sources

of stress and others explore the benefits of games in healthcare

in general.

9. COPING USING SERIOUS GAMES

We group the researches on occupational stress into a few

topics as presented in Figure 2, namely: Stress Measurement;

Observation of Activities Performed; Stress Pattern

Identification (stressors); Stress Prevision; Coping Strategies

and Evaluation.

The relationship between these topics is also shown in Figure

2. The stress measurement is made during the observation of

the activities performed by the employee in the workplace. This

measurement can be made, for example, using sensors or

questionnaires for identifying changes biological, physical or

behavioral indicating whether or not the person is stressed.

After identifying the activities that generate stress (stressors),

we can determine pattern activities, enabling the prediction of

stress situations. Information got in previous topics can help to

develop coping strategies. Further, these strategies can have its

efficiency evaluated.

Fig. 2. Occupational Stress Topics of Study

The Occupational Health Psychology researches usually

develop studies on the identification of coping strategies within

the scope of a profession. This choice is made by the stressors

and coping may vary between different professions.

Furthermore, the can do the evaluation of the strategies

identified or suggested programs of stress management. Some

others researches propose protocols to measure, to evaluate or

to rank the strategies that people adopt to cope with stress. The

inventory coping strategies from Folkman and Lazarus [28] is

one example of such protocols. It assesses the different ways

people respond to stress by means of a set of items classified

into eight distinct conceptual dimensions, namely:

confrontation, distancing, self-controlling, social support,

accepting responsibility, escape-avoidance, problem solving,

and positive reappraisal.

Research in the computer area regarding occupational stress are

concentrated on identifying/measuring stress using sensors that

capture biological signals, sound, image or behavioral patterns.

In addition, some studies, for example, in [11], discuss

theoretically the use of entertainment games as a coping

strategy. Other works, such as in [27], related games as a

change agent in mood making the stress level decrease.

Although these studies describe the use of games in coping

with stress, we didn’t find a strategy that uses some kind of

technology, including games, systematically in coping

strategies.

Serious Games differ from entertainment games because they

have a purpose (specific and intentional learning) to be

achieved when a person uses it. Thus, in the development of

Serious Games, these goals must be observed to guide its

construction.

Furthermore, video games have great proximity to Virtual

Reality, because prioritize interaction. Initially, games used 2D

graphics. But, with the move to 3D space, they incorporated all

the features of Virtual Reality, and should be one of the biggest

sectors of application of this technology [16]. Additionally,

according to [29], the best way for the creation of an interactive

and immersive experience is to create games that use both the

content of the real and virtual world to stimulate the player so

that your imagination fill in the gaps and they become truly

immersed. This is possible using Augmented Reality.

So, a game interface created using VR/AR techniques can

improve the interaction, motivation and immersion game

characteristics.

Stress Measurement

Observation of the

Activities Performed

Identifying Patterns of Stress

(Stressors)

Prediction of Stress

Coping Strategies

Assessment

ISSN: 1690-4524 SYSTEMICS, CYBERNETICS AND INFORMATICS VOLUME 12 - NUMBER 3 - YEAR 2014 5

The purpose of this work is the use of Serious Games

associated to Virtual and Augmented Reality techniques in

coping with occupational stress. The proposal also suggests

that the Serious Games developed for this purpose should be

guided by the dimensions of inventory coping strategies and

the needs of the worker.

Workers' needs or characteristics must be observed to be

possible to identify the coping strategies of stress that they

practice. Furthermore, it allows the construction of a profile

that will help in defining what types of strategies can be

effective in coping with stress.

The dimensions of inventory coping strategies provide an

orientation of how the game should address the coping with

stress offered to the player. For example, we can develop a

game that takes the player to learn or work confrontation by a

way of demonstrating feelings of dissatisfaction with the

problem spilling emotions.

Figure 3 shows the proposal scheme. Two distinct periods are

presented: Building Moment and Application Moment. The

first is the stage where the workers’ profile are prepared.

Furthermore, stressors and coping strategies are identified.

These tasks should be observed in the context of a particular

profession to guide the development of Serious Games based

on the dimensions of inventory coping strategies and a worker

profile. The second is the stage where the employee is

suggested to use the game developed.

The Employee Monitoring, presented in Figure 3, is

responsible for providing employee information to identifying

stressors and coping strategies. Furthermore, it identifies when

the game developed should be suggested to the employee as a

tool to reduce stress levels. Thus, the proposed scheme can be

part of a control program stress within a company where

serious games can be used as a support tool.

Fig. 3. Using Serious Games as Coping Support

The purpose of this work is to investigate how serious game

must be constructed to face stress. First of all, the use of Virtual

or Augmented Reality techniques improves the game

characteristics of: immersion, interaction and engagement.

Second, establish a target context. Different people react on

different way from same stressor. The degree of stress can be

different either. However, coping strategies can be categorized.

According to the theory of Lazarus and Folkman, these

categories are: confrontation, distancing, self-controlling, social

support, accepting responsibility, escape-avoidance, planful

problem solving, and positive reappraisal. So, this information

can be used to guide what kind of serious game will be

developed. Third, to construct a people context profile, with

information about: people preferences/coping strategies,

context and stressors. This task can be made using psychology

techniques to identifier and understand these information.

Finally, we want to use the profile information, in construction

phase, to get a game that is able to make the player achieve the

flow Zone and stay there for the most time as possible. When

the player is in flow Zone he is able to decrease the stress level.

It is important to highlight that in this proposal the needs and

characteristics of people are take into account to constructs the

serious game. This is very important to success of any coping

stress strategy. The Fig 5 illustrates the issues to guide the

construction of a serious game too support coping processes.

Fig. 4. Issue to Guide the Construction of a Serious Games to

Cope with Stress.

10. CONCLUSIONS

The use of games as an agent capable of reducing stress levels

of a person is proven in several studies. However, concrete

proposals that utilize systematically Serious Games associated

Virtual and Augmented Reality techniques developed as the

purpose of coping with stress in the workplace demand further

investigation. The proposal described in this work, though still

embryonic, aims to contribute to research on coping strategies

to occupational stress using Serious Game.

The proposed schemes in Figure 3 and Figure 4 present, in high

level, the information necessary to develop the Serious Games

as a tool to coping occupational stress. An interface, Employee

Monitoring, is suggest to help the identification of the moment

when is necessary an intervention to decrease the employee

stress level.

This scheme needs to be validated and tested to verify their

effectiveness and efficiency. Nevertheless, it is expected that

the development of Serious Games oriented by inventory

coping strategies using Virtual/Augmented Reality techniques,

Coping

with

Serious

Games

Profile

Coping Strategies

Identification

Stressors

Identification

Profession

Employee Monitoring

Employee

Building Moment

Aplication Moment

6 SYSTEMICS, CYBERNETICS AND INFORMATICS VOLUME 12 - NUMBER 3 - YEAR 2014 ISSN: 1690-4524

with the purposed of coping can make them even more efficient

as support tools for coping with occupational stress.

11. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors want to express special thanks to FAPEMIG,

CAPES and PROPP/UFU for financial support.

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