GOJI an advanced virtual environment for supporting training of physical and cognitive activities for preventing the occurrence of dementia in normally living elderly with minor cognitive disorders

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia. The incidence of dementia in populations of 65 years or over is 9% and doubles every 5 years. Recent epidemic studies predict that in 2020 there will be over 48 million cases of dementia (Italian Health Ministry). Visual-spatial impairments are often among the first symptoms noted in AD and in the course of clinical evolution this function can become severely impaired. Aim of the Goji project is to provide a preventive program, for asymptomatic or early mild symptomatic individuals, through the development of a Virtual Environment for visuospatial (VSP) training and a physiological evaluation of its efficacy. The paper presents the virtual environment developed, focusing on the choice of the development tools and on the scenario's development and functionality.