UNM Students Develop Interactive Game to Support Children with ADHD
JAKARTA - Concern for mental health and child development issues has driven students at Universitas Nusa Mandiri (UNM), a Digital Business Campus, to create an educational innovation based on technology. Through their work entitled MEMORion+: An Interactive Visual Novel Game as a Medium for Psychoeducation and Identity Reinforcement for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the UNM student team successfully secured funding under the 2026 Student Creativity Programme (PKM) through the PKM Karsa Cipta (PKM-KC) scheme.
The innovation team was led by Dini Fitriyah Herti from the Data Science study programme, with members Guntur Surawijaya from Data Science, and Rivky Putra Setiawan and Rizki Rasdiwiyanto from Informatics. Throughout the proposal drafting and concept development process, the team was mentored by Taopik Hidayat as supervising lecturer.
This achievement demonstrates that UNM students focus not only on technological development but are also able to deliver innovative solutions that address social problems in society.
ADHD was chosen as the focus of the innovation because many children still face challenges in understanding themselves, building self-confidence, managing emotions, and adapting to their social environment. Meanwhile, interactive, child-friendly psychoeducational media remain relatively limited.
Team leader Dini Fitriyah Herti explained that the idea for MEMORion+ was born from a desire to create an educational approach closer to children’s lives in the digital era.
“Children with ADHD often face challenges in being understood by those around them. That is why we want to present a medium that helps them recognise emotions, understand themselves, and build their own identity through a fun and interactive experience,” said Dini.
Dini emphasised that MEMORion+ is developed as an interactive visual novel game featuring adaptive stories with various decisions that players can make.
“Each storyline is designed to provide a reflective experience while helping children understand emotions, improve focus, and gain positive reinforcement about themselves,” she said.
During the development process, the team conducted a series of studies on the characteristics of ADHD, user needs, character design, and the creation of educational and easily digestible storylines. The visual novel approach was chosen because it can build emotional attachment between the player and the characters in the story, allowing psychoeducational messages to be conveyed more effectively.
Supervising lecturer Taopik Hidayat commended the enthusiasm and collaboration of the cross-disciplinary student team, who successfully turned an idea into an innovation recognised at national level.
“Students are not only expected to be able to create technology, but also to deliver solutions that provide tangible benefits to society. MEMORion+ is an example of how technology can be used to support education, mental health, and children’s character development. I am proud of the team’s hard work in securing funding for PKM 2026,” said Taopik in a statement received on Wednesday (22 July 2026).
As a Digital Business Campus, UNM continues to encourage student innovations that combine technology, creativity, and social awareness.
“Through various mentoring programmes, research, and national competitions, students are driven to produce work that delivers positive impact for society,” said Taopik.
He added that with the approval of PKM-KC 2026 funding, the MEMORion+ team will continue prototype development, refine interactive features, and test the system so it can be used optimally.
“The team hopes this innovation can become a psychoeducational medium that helps children with ADHD feel more understood, valued, and confident in their daily lives,” he said.