ANIMA OBSCURA

This technical paper presents the results of the past three years research and development work by an interdisciplinary team of artists, scholars, disability empowerment experts, engineers, computer scientists and medical doctors, working together to invent new cutting edge technologies for real people’s needs. The group has called itself SPIRITlevel (see www.smartlabcentre.com) and has aimed to harness and share the power of technology when invented by and for people with unlimited imaginations despite physical limitations. The project discussed is ‘ANIMA OBSCURA’: a showcase performance designed to demonstrate the empowering abilities of new technology in the performing arts, where bio-affective feedback systems and motion tracking technologies can be usefully (and invisibly) combined with live performance by disabled and able-bodied dancers, to allow every person to dance, move, and bring an augmented world to life. The showcase has broadcastable elements and scaleable format that makes it suitable for demonstration in hospital settings, rehabilitation units, art galleries, museums, and main stages. It can be utilised by individuals for personal therapy and healing, or used collaboratively in online game-playing between hospital beds or, in the ‘mainstream’, through webcast and broadcast formats

The TRUST Project: Immersive Play for Children in Hospitals and Rehabilitation

In recent years, children’s hospitals worldwide have investigated using aspects of video games and other media tools available to young patients to address such problems as isolation, stress management, and rehabilitation. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that these communities, despite being limited to text interfaces, can improve pain scores and may improve depressive symptoms, reduce anxiety, and raise self-esteem. The objectives of the TRUST Project is to develop game-based interactive play in order to aid in children rehabilitation and ease the stresses associated with hospital scenarios. The play environment is designed to be inclusive, i.e. not solely for able-bodied and able-minded people. The virtual environments and game scenarios have been tailored to an audience of 8 to 13 year old children with varying degrees of abilities

Gender in performance : contemporary British and comparative studies in theatre and associated forms of cultural representation.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN023897 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

People with Disabilities Leading the Design of Serious Games and Virtual Worlds.

Games and virtual worlds have many potential benefits for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in terms of training, education, and rehabilitation. However, because this population presents a wide range of specific needs and abilities, it can be difficult to design games which are engaging and present optimum levels of challenge to players. By including individuals with ID and ASD in the design phase we can help meet their specific needs and preferences by personalizing an intervention through the exploration of experimental techniques, methods and assistive technologies. By embracing the Responsible Research and Innovation approach, we bring science and society closer together to shape the world for future generations. A number of approaches for achieving such inclusion have been described, such as User Sensitive Inclusive Design, Universal Design, and Design for All. Here we discuss three specific examples of the design of games and virtual worlds for people with ID/ASD and illustrate how they attempt to meet their needs. Namely 1) a blended approach of computerised program and applied behaviour analysis for reading skills 2) immersive gameplay for employment and transferable skills training and 3) virtual reality training to enhance communication skills

Let Us Converse Virtually! Conversation Skills Training through Virtual Reality

The International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) 2018 Annual Meeting, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 9-12 May 2018BACKGROUND: People with ASD typically have difficulties with communication and socialization skills, and they may exhibit repetitive behaviours or have restricted interests (Fombonne, 2005; Levy & Perry, 2011; Rivet & Matson, 2011; Suzuki 2011). Such difficulties have been shown to be linked to the development of problem behaviours, and thus people with ASD do struggle to keep or find employment, become part of the community, and they overall report low quality of life ratings (National Research Council 2001). Assistive technology’s role for people with ASD is to primarily improve their quality of life and help them in their transition from education and training to independent living. The Virtual Reality (VR) technology first appeared in the 1960s, but was neither a commercial success nor was it very engaging. VR has re-emerged in recent years as a more affordable, user friendly platform, that has reached a point where it can imitate the real world (Freina & Ott, 2015). Moreover, VR can assist in making conversations easy, structured and inclusive (Newbutt, 2013). OBJECTIVES: To examine the effectiveness of a training intervention on conversation skills for people with ASD, through a Virtual World (VW) environment (using a laptop which is a non-immersive delivery method). METHODS: The paper will initially describe the VW development phases, where a Participatory Design approach was adopted. This will be followed by a description of the intervention process. The participants initially interact with the researcher physically (Phase 1) and then virtually (Phase 2) to determine whether virtual reality on itself has a positive impact. Phase 3 involves instruction (PowerPoint presentations, videos, and quizzes) in the virtual environment followed by the same interaction to determine whether instruction in virtual reality is beneficial. Phase 4 will be a repeat of Phase 1 to determine whether the participants bring any skill acquisition from the virtual to the real world. The intervention is a Multiple Baseline Design (MBD) with 3 participants and consists of at most 17 sessions over a 7 to 9-week period. RESULTS: The user feedback on the VW development has revealed ways we can change the VW to make it more appealing, acceptable, and user-friendly to the participants. The users offered several suggestions regarding: the content of instructional material (e.g., conclude each PowerPoint presentation with a quiz), organization of content (e.g., better organise video playlist) and visual presentation of content (e.g., enlarge video screens and increase text font). The paper will also present the analysis of the ongoing MBD, based on an adapted assessment tool from the Conversation Skills Rating Scale . A comparison of the results between phase 1 an 4 will determine the effectiveness of the training, if the baseline is stable. CONCLUSIONS: The user feedback received to date suggests that VR has a significant role to play in training for people with ASD and that immersive VR (head mounted displays) could possibly be even more effective. Overall the feedback was constructive and will result in a better product for a follow-up study in 2018.European Commission - Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)RESPEC