Kinect Interaction to support people with disabilities: DoubleFine's Happy Action Theater/Kinect Party; OAK Air Switch and Face Switch, resources

I've been experimenting with gesture and touch-based applications for many years and I'm excited to see how things have unfolded over the past couple of years, especially in the field of special education.

Last week I downloaded DoubleFine's Kinect-based Happy Action Theater/Kinect Party,  to use during some group activities with students I work with who have significant disabilities (including severe autism).  I wish I had discovered this suite of games sooner!

I had loads of fun with students and colleagues as we explored some of the 36 creative, and sometimes zany, minigames.  I had heard that DoubleFine had launched something special, but didn't realize how awesome it was until I spent some serious playful time with it at home last weekend. I then tried it out at work this past week.  

If you are planning to explore Happy Action Theater/Kinect party, keep in mind that it plays best when there are at least two people and an audience to cheer everything along.  Through the use of blob detection algorithms, the games can handle up to 6 players at a time, which is perfect for small-group special classes.

The following trailer gives just a little hint of what this suite of mini-games is all about!


I noted that many of the games were effective in helping students become more aware of their peers. They began to play and interact with one-another in ways I hadn't previously imagined.  I especially liked the fact that many of the mini-games made it possible for students in wheelchairs to participate.  

I look forward to exploring more of the games over the next few months and will follow up with a future post after I get more input from my colleagues (and students).

I learned about Kinect Party through my contact with people involved with the GestureSEN wiki. The wiki was created as part of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) for people who work with students in specialized schools, similar to the school where I work, and contains a wealth of information about the use of newer and emerging technologies, such as the iPad, Leap Motion, the Kinect, and eye-gaze systems to support young people with significant disabilities  including autism  Some members of the GestureSEN wiki have learned to code or are in the process of doing so, motivated by what they've experienced so far with their students.  (More information and links are listed in the "RELATED" section of this post.)

OAK

OAK was developed by RCAST at the University of Tokyo in collaboration with Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd. It uses the motion-tracking capabilities of Microsoft's Kinect sensor to create non-contact switches for people with limited mobility, enabling them access to computers and other electronic devices and systems.  The video below provides a nice overview of the OAK system.

The OAK Pro bundle includes the following applications:

The Air Switch software uses the distance/depth capabilities of the Kinect sensor to support gestures of the head, hands, or larger body part to turn things off or on. The infrared from the Kinect also supports the use of the Air Switch in the dark.   The color mode function captures movements from smaller parts of the body, such as a fingertip.

The Face Switch software uses facial recognition software that can track the movements of the face, mouth, tongue, and eyes.  It can identify facial parts that have moved significantly, and records motion data 

The Motion History software observes  the movement of a person's body using the video component of the Kinect sensor.   This customizes the system to the individual and ensures accuracy of the switch.   Movements are color coded and provide the person who is setting up the system a means to fit the system to the specific capabilities and needs of the user.  

The OAK system can be enhanced by the sue of peripherals, such as a USB 4 channel relay box, an IR remote control device or outlet, or other on/off switches/outlets.

The Assist-i corporation has made the OAK system and peripherals available on Amazon Japan.  From what I can tell from the company's website, the OAK software can be downloaded free for a 30-day trial.   I'd love to see how it would work with some of the students I work with who have difficulty accessing conventional switches!  It would be wonderful to come up with ways for these students to access a wider range of digital media activities and games.

RELATED
University adapting videogame technology to help physically disabled computer users
Philip Kendall, Japan Today, 10/10/12
OAK Air Switch (PC Kinect)
OneSwitch.org.uk 4/30/13
OAK Air Switch, Face Switch, Motion History Pro Bundle (pdf)
Assist-i Corporation
Amazon Ai store: Assist-i Corporation (Prices are in Yen.)

Below is a partial list of links to resources related to using or creating engaging interactive applications and games for people with special needs: 

Using Kinect in Special Ed Classrooms: Advice from Loudoun County, Virginia Teachers
Microsoft in Education Team, Microsoft in Education Blog, 6/1/12

KinectSEN-Kinect and Special Educational Needs round-up
Greg Dunan, Microsoft Coding4Fun, 10/11/12

Monkeying Around with Autism Assessments: Kinect-based game by Vectorform andKaiser Permanente therapists offers a barrel of possibilities!
Lynn Marentette, Interactive Multimedia Technology, 7/23/13

Behind the Scenes: Creating Marty the Monkey (The character from Vectorform's autism assessment app) John Einselen, Vectorform Blog, 7/24/13


Kinect Party Review: More Fun from the Fun Kings
Casey Lynch, IGN, 12/20/12


The Power of Kinect in Special Needs Education
Willemijn de Lint,  Hans Smeele, mytylschool De Ruimte

Sign Language Recognition and Translation with Kinect (pdf)
Ming Zhou, et. al.

Cool Kinect move: Reading sign language in real time
Christopher MacManus, CNET, 7/18/13

Anthony Rhys, Trinity Fields ICT

James Winchester, SENClassroom blog

PMLD Eyegaze Project at Trinity Fields

Kinect hacking using Processing

Kinect SEN and Processing Resources
Keith Manville, Oak Grove College OpenSEN

Mat's Classroom Blog

GestureSEN Wiki
KinectSEN Wiki; KinectSEN News
ProcessingSEN wiki
LeapSEN Wiki
EyegazeSEN Wiki

SEN Students and Coding
OpenSEN, 3/5/13

Processing2

Kinect for Windows Blog

Kinect For Windows
DoubleFine

Understanding Engagement, Module 3.2, Training materials for teachers of learners with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties, UK Dept. for Education


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NY Times article and Video: iPad Opens World to a Disabled Boy

I meant to post a link to this article a while ago:


iPad Opens World to a Disabled Boy 
Emily B. Hager, New York Times, 10/12/10



Cross-posted on the TechPsych  blog

Multi-touch and NUI News: NUITEQ's Multi-touch Snowflake Suite for Windows 7

NUITEQ is a company that has been involved in multi-touch technologies for the past few years, and works diligently at ensuring that it keeps up with the evolution in interactive displays and software.  The company's Snowflake Suite is now available for Windows 7, and is compatible with 3M Touch Systems, N-trig, NextWindow, Lumino, and other third-party platforms.  

Here is the current compatibility list, and also a list of Snowflake Suite for Winodws 7 features:

Compatibility

* NextWindow platforms like HP TouchSmart IQ500, IQ770, IQ800 series and the Dell Studio One (all 2 touch)
* N-trig platforms like HP TouchSmart TX2, Dell Latitude XT/XT2 and others
* 3M Touch Systems multi-touch kit
* Lumio platforms
* dreaMTouch
* PQ Labs
* Wacom

Snowflake Suite for Windows 7 Features

* Detailed user manual included with FAQ

* Developed on fast and reliable C++ platform

* Intuitive

* Customizable backgrounds, logo's, images, 3d models, videos etc

* Gesture recognition library

* TUIO / OSC (Open Sound Control) support (sending and receiving events)

* Low level API

* Hardware accelerated rendering

* Support for wide variety of media types (jpg,jpeg,tga,png,dds,gif,tif, tiff, bmp,mov,avi,wav,ogg)

* Advanced window handler that supports scaling and rotation

* Audio support

* Multi-threaded resource handler (For fast data visualization)

Snowflake Suite is also compatible with the following systems:

* TouchCore 

* Visual Planet

* NextWindow

* NEXIO Plugin

RELATED 

NUITEQ now offers 3M 22" true multi-touch displays bundled with its Snowflake Suite software

"The 3M multi-touch displays support up to 20 finger touches simultaneously and come with a one year warranty. NUITEQ's Snowflake Suite, is included at no additional charge, offering the benefits of a complete bundled product of hardware and software, being the perfect solution to get started with multi-touch technology."

Brochure (pdf) 

NUITEQ Flat 46" Multi-touch LCD 

Photo Credit: NUITEQ

Case Study
"NUITEC freely assisted handicapped children with their education, by applying multi-touch technology for Action For Kids, a UK based national charity working with children and young people with physical and learning disabilities.The children used NUITEQ’s award winning multi-touch software product Snowflake Suite, to enhance their way of learning, by offering a more playful and intuitive solution, in comparison to conventional learning methods."

Games for Health Conference, Games Accessibility Day, and Games Beyond Entertainment Week! (Via Ben Sawyer, Digital Mill, Serious Games Initiative)

The Games for Health Conference and Games Beyond Entertainment Week are coming soon.

Register now at: http://www.regonline.com/gbew2010

We can now reveal our excellent keynotes for the 2010 Games for Health Conference:

Day 1: Wednesday May 26

THE MIND-BODY EXPERIENCE OF SONY MOVE: Relationships between Gaming, Play, Exercise, and More!
Dr. Richard Marks
Senior Researcher Sony US R&D group

Dr. Marks also known as the "father of the EyeToy" will discuss the relationship between gaming, play and exercise, referencing his work in the development of Sony’s new motion controller system, PlayStation Move, as well as his previous work with Sony’s EyeToy, PlayStation Eye and other interfaces.

Day 2: Thursday May 27

THE HUMAN PLAY MACHINE

Chaim Gingold

Chaim Gingold, a longtime independent game developer and original designer of Spore’s creature creator will discuss how existing game genres map onto the human brain and body and how design decisions affect who will be attracted to the game and how they will play.

You can see the nearly full schedule at: http://www.gamesforhealth.org/schedule.htm

Two of our May 25: Pre-Conference Events also have schedules posted:

Out & About: The Mobile Serious Games schedule: http://bit.ly/9MbEEF

3rd Annual Games Accessibility Day: http://gamesaccessibilityday.org/schedule.html (See below)

Complete details of both http://www.gamesforhealth.org & http://www.gamesbeyondentertainment.com

Games for Health
http://www.gamesforhealth.org/brochure.pdf

Games Beyond Entertainment Week
http://www.gamesbeyondentertainment.com/brochure.pdf

Best,

Ben Sawyer
Digitalmill
Serious Games Initiative
Games for Health Project
@bensawyer on twitter

Here is the schedule of the Games Accessibility Day,  May 25, 2010:

Tuesday, May 25, 2010
8:30 am to 9:00 am	Coffee
9:00 am to 9:50 am	Opening Ceremonies Introduction of the Day, Mark Barlet  Keynote Address: Chuck Bergen – Making a commercial game targeting at the disabled community, and how he sold the idea to the biggest game company on the planet.
9:50 am to 10:00 am	Break
10:00 am to 10:30 am	Presentation: Tobi Saulnier - Winter's Tale : A Case Study of Designing for Game Accessibility on the Nintendo DS
10:30 am to 10:45 am	Presentation: Katherine Mancuso - Best Practices for Accessible Communication Using a Virtual World
10:45 am to 11:00 am	Presentation: Tim Holt: Game Accessibility in Special Education.
11:00 am to 11:15 am	Break
11:15 am to 11:30 am	Introduction to the “Hacker Hardware Challenge” Adam Coe Ben Heckendorn Suzanne Robitaille
11:30 am to 12:00 pm	Presentation: Halimat Alabi - Making the Fantasy Real: Giving Good User Interface
12:00 pm to 12:20 pm	Presentation: Mantha Sadural - SPREAD: Appreciating Speech through Gaming
12:20 pm to 1:30 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm to 1:50 pm	“Hacker Hardware Challenge” the reveal and Q&A
1:50 pm to 2:10 pm	Presentation: Johnny Richardson - The Social Construction Model of Interactive Gaming for Disabled Users: Benefits and Developmental Evaluation
2:10 pm to 2:30 pm	Presentation: Eleanor Robinson - Game Accessibility and the Aging Community
2:30 pm to 3:00 pm	Group Activity: Break out into groups and solve the world’s problems How could we pass up the opportunity to flex the massive amount of talent assembled in one room. Take on a challenge and help develop a solution.
3:00 pm to 3:10 pm	Break
3:10pm to 3:40 pm	Group Activity: Presentation of the breakouts
3:40 pm to 4:10 pm	Presentation: Rock Vibe - Rock Band for People with No or Limited Vision
4:10 pm to 4:30 pm	Break
4:30 pm to 5:00 pm	Presentation: Suzanne Robitaille and Mark Barlet - Reviews for All, A New way of looking at things for our community
5:00 pm to 5:20 pm	Presentation: Heidi Silver-Pacuilla - Unleashing the Power of Innovation for Assistive Technology
5:20 pm to 5:30 pm	Closing Ceremonies

Special Effect's on-line Accessible Gamebase network, supporting accessible games for young people with disabilities.

"SpecialEffect is a charity dedicated to helping ALL young people with disabilities to enjoy computer games. For these children, the majority of computer games are simply too quick or too difficult to play, and we can help them and their parents to find out which games they CAN play, and how to adapt those games that they can't."


Here is a video that tells a story of how SpecialEffects created a game for a young woman, Helen, with a motor disability.  Helen operates the computer with her eyes to play against her brother, who uses the touch-screen interface:

If you are interested in supporting accessible games, consider joining Accessible Gamebase, a new on-line community maintained by Special Effect.  Below is the message I recently received from SpecialEffect regarding this opportunity to connect others regarding accessible games:


"Have you been wondering just what it is you could do to get involved with SpecialEffect? Well, that question is answered today with the launch of SpecialEffect's 'accessible Gamebase.

• It deals with all access devices for all physical and learning disabilities - from switch users to eye controllers. 
• It's not just a place for gamers but a place where everyone - carers, gamers, developers and, of course, end-users themselves - can both share information and try out the latest games whether they are seasoned gamers or absolute beginners. 
• It has the potential to be a great training tool, too, and we've already put up some example videos to illustrate how the games are played. 
• As it's based on a social networking model, anyone can easily join up and share information. 
• It tells you not only how to adapt mainstream games for use by everyone but also provides information on which special games are available - and for whom.

All in all, then, it's very much designed to be a place that encourages anyone with an interest in this area to meet to share information and ideas. The proof of the pudding will be in the extent to which people use it, of course, and it will need significant promotion (yes, this will be where we will need your help!) to reach that point of critical mass when, with SpecialEffect's expert input and moderation, it will thrive.

Go to http://www.gamebase.info to sign up and Be a Part of It!"

For Techies & Tech Curious: Python and PyMT developments - PyMT and speech recognition

PyMT is short for Python Multi-Touch, a project that is the work of several members of the NUI Group.  Sharath Patali experimented with speech input for PyMT and used the pocketsphinx library from CMU to integrate into PyMT. It worked out well, as you can see from his video demo below:


PyMT Speech Recognition from Sharath Patali on Vimeo.

Other people involved with the PyMT project are Nathanael Lecaude, Matthew Virbel, Thomas Hansen, and Xelapond.

Sharath Patali's Blog/Website Roll (Links to some NUI-group members)

• Divesh and Aditya’s Blog
• Harry van der Veen’s Blog
• Laurence Muller's Blog
• Linux Hacker ( Balaji R Rao)
• Paul D’Intino’s Orion
• Seth Sandler (Cerupcat)
• Sparsh-I Team
• Tommy’s MT Blog

Matthieu Virbel on Vimeo
NUI Group on Vimeo


Python and Game Programming Resources
Adaptation and Evaluation of Numpty Physics for Multi-touch Multiplayer Interaction (pdf)
(A python-based module called "numptyphysics" was created to integrate Python multi-touch cold to allow the C++ code to parse data, converting it to C structs passed to the game code using pointers.)
Python Programming Language Official Website
Pygame
PythonGames
PythonL Game Programming Wiki, by Geoff Howland and Rene Dudfield
Lectures 1-6
Beginning Game Development with Python and Pygame -Book (Will McGugan)
Game Programming with Python - Book (Sean Riley)

Comment:
The reason I'm putting together resources about Python, multi-touch, and games is that I hope to facilitate an exchange between two of the schools I serve as a school psychologist.

Both of the schools are on the same campus. One is a high school for technology and the arts, and one is a program for teens and young adults who have severe disabilities, including autism.  Next semester, one of the computer teachers will be teaching a game programming class using Python for a class of graduating seniors, and if all goes well, perhaps some of the students will create a game for the students with disabilities that would work well on a SMARTboard.

Even better:  It would be great if the pre-engineering students could build a multi-touch table or two for the students with disabilities, running games in PyMT that the computer students create!

IDPedia: Interaction Design Patterns for Games Library!

From the HelpYouPlay IDPedia (Interaction Design Patterns for Games Library) website:


"Design patterns are ways to describe best practices, explain good designs, and capture experience so that other people can reuse these solutions. The idea of a pattern was introduced by the architect Christopher Alexander for use in urban planning and building architecture, but since then a pattern community has emerged that specifies patterns for all sorts of problems. Interaction design patterns aim to capture optimal solutions to common usability or accessibility problems in a specific context. Typically best practices concerning interaction design are described as guidelines or heuristics. We consider interaction design patterns to be more descriptive than guidelines as it tells a designer exactly when, how and why the solution can be applied." 

Thanks, Barrie Ellis (One-Switch Games) for the link!


SOMEWHAT RELATED
Game Usability and Accessibility
Donate to the AbleGamers Fundraiser!
The funds will support the work of the AbleGamers Foundation, and donations are tax-deductible.

"The AbleGamers Foundation's mission is to empower the disabled population to enjoy the digital revolution that is taking place in gaming... We believe in harnessing the power of many people's voices to solve the problems of the not so few. The AbleGamers Foundation strives to bring together individuals from every lifestyle with a common goal of improving the lives of the disabled. Everyone has the right to enjoy the world, and together, we can make that possible. Together, we can make it possible for everyone to enjoy the rich content of digital entertainment with his or her friends and family regardless of disability."

Eelke Folmer's Human-Computer Interaction Research

Usability Patterns in Games (pdf)
Accessibility in Games and Virtual Worlds
Interaction Design Patterns

Eelke Folmer's presentation at the 2009 Games 4 Health Conference, Boston
Game Accessibility WorkshopG4H: game accessibility research @ University of Nevada, Reno

View more presentations from eelke folmer.

Problems with Kindle in Education: Looks as if Amazon forgot to do usability and accessibility homework!

When e-readers first were released to the world, I thought I'd be the first on the block to run out and get one.  But I wasn't, and I didn't.  Why not?   

• They are too expensive.
• They don't provide me with the text/content/concept/nonlinear/multimedia interaction I want (not useful for my purposes.)
  
• Issues regarding usability, accessibility, and universal design have yet to be resolved.

Problem: Not quite useful or usable for students.

Kindles yet to woo University users

Hyung Lee, The Daily Princetonian 9/28/09

“I hate to sound like a Luddite, but this technology is a poor excuse of an academic tool...It’s clunky, slow and a real pain to operate...Much of my learning comes from a physical interaction with the text: bookmarks, highlights, page-tearing, sticky notes and other marks representing the importance of certain passages — not to mention margin notes, where most of my paper ideas come from and interaction with the material occurs,” he explained. “All these things have been lost, and if not lost they’re too slow to keep up with my thinking, and the ‘features’ have been rendered useless.” - Aaron Horvath, student, Princeton
Winthrop professor uses Kindle to spark new age of learning- but response to e-reader lukewarm (Shawn Cetrone, Herald Online, 10/5/09)
"About a month into the semester at Winthrop, the device has yet to garner many fans...
 “I don't really like it,” senior Cindy Satta said after class. “We used to highlight things we read, especially with complicated texts. We can't do that now.”    And Satta prefers leafing through paper pages over fumbling with the Kindle key pad. But, she added, it was nice not having to buy a book."
EDUKINDLE:  Kindle for Educators

Problem:  Usable and useful for reading fiction, but not much else.
I'm delighted to share Jakob Nielsen's reviews of the Kindle- he is an "older" guy, and given his background in the usability field, he's well-aware of factors related to reading text on screens.  I don't need reading glasses yet, but given my age, reading small print will become an important issue when and if I purchase an e-Reader!

Kindle 2 Usability Review (Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 3/9/09)
"Amazon's new e-book reader offers print-level readability and shines for reading fiction, but it has awkward interaction design and poor support for non-linear content."
Kindle Content Design (Jakob Nielson, Alertbox, 3/16/09)
" Adapting content for the Kindle e-book reader requires that you follow an unholy mix of usability guidelines for other environments........ Given these constraints, navigating non-linear content on Kindle feels much like navigating websites on a mobile phone. Kindle content designers should therefore follow mobile usability guidelines for many user interface issues, including the presentation of article pages."
Kindle DX - Disappointing (Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 5/2009)
"Reduced crispness means fuzzier fonts, which again means reduced legibility and slower reading speed. Thus, Kindle DX is not likely to replicate the pleasant reading experience of Kindle 2. This is particularly catastrophic since it's intended for reading textbooks which are dense in word count...Seeing only one page at a time will reduce students' ability to learn, relative to reading books that display two-page spreads as the designer and author intended."


Problem: Lacking key features required for accessibility and conforming to UDL (Universal Design for Learning) principles.


NOTE: Somehow I missed the controversy about accessibility and e-Books! Since I don't have an e-reader and I don't know anyone who owns one, it was off my radar.

Apparently e-Books don't come with audio rights, and this issue is much more complicated than one would think. I am sure there are many sides to the story. In my humble opinion, much of this controversy could have been prevented if all parties involved in the eBook revolution had done their homework before the first e-Book came to market!   

National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the BlindFile Discrimination Suit Against Arizona State University: University’s Amazon Kindle DX Pilot Program Discriminates Against the Blind

"The Kindle DX features text-to-speech technology that can read textbooks aloud to blind students.  The menus of the device are not accessible to the blind, however, making it impossible for a blind user to purchase books from Amazon’s Kindle store, select a book to read, activate the text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced reading functions available on the Kindle DX"

"Darrell Shandrow, a blind student pursuing a degree in journalism at ASU, said: “Not having access to the advanced reading features of the Kindle DX—including the ability to download books and course materials, add my own bookmarks and notes, and look up supplemental information instantly on the Internet when I encounter it in my reading—will lock me out of this new technology and put me and other blind students at a competitive disadvantage relative to our sighted peers.  While my peers will have instant access to their course materials in electronic form, I will still have to wait weeks or months for accessible texts to be prepared for me, and these texts will not provide the access and features available to other students.  That is why I am standing up for myself and with other blind Americans to end this blatant discrimination.""
Advocates for the Blind Sue Arizona State U over Kindle Use  (Marc Beja, Wired Campus, Chronicles of Higher Education, 7/2/09)
Blind Access Journal (Darrell Shandrow's Blog)

Broad Coalition Demands Access to Amazon Kindle/Electronic Books: Reading Rights Coalition Urges Authors to Allow Everyone Access to E-books
Author's Guild Statement Making the Kindle Accessible to the Print Disabled(4/7/09)

Reading Rights Coalition

(Direct links to the member groups of the Reading Rights Coalition can be found on the home page.) 
The Kindle TTS Issue
"Shortly after the Kindle 2’s release, the Authors Guild, as an organization that represents some writers, protested Amazon’s deployment of text-to-speech on the Kindle 2. The Authors Guild argued that reading a book out loud, as occurs with the Kindle, requires the specific permission of the copyright holder. It also expressed a concern that text-to-speech could inhibit the development of the market for audio books. On February 24, 2009, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece by Roy Blount, Jr., president of the Authors Guild, which escalated media attention on the issue."
















CNN iReport Author's Guild Protest

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE?
How Tech for the Disabled is Going Mainstream: Designs conceived for the handicapped, such as voice commands for PCs, often lead to products for the masses 
(Reena Jana, Business Week 9/24/09)
""Companies could look at designing for accessibility as a sales opportunity. Most features that are accessible for the disabled have great value to everybody," says Donald A. Norman, a former Apple vice-president for advanced technology who heads a joint business and engineering program at Northwestern University."

"While VoiceOver helped broaden Apple's reach to the blind, it also became a mini-engine for innovation within the company. "When we created the VoiceOver idea and concept for the Mac, we also realized we could take advantage of it by mainstreaming it," says Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice-president for iPod and iPhone marketing."

"At Google (GOOG), a deaf software engineer, Ken Harrenstein, spearheaded the creation of a captioning tool for videos posted on Google's YouTube site. His original intention was to help deaf users. But the company soon figured out the software could also help translate languages. That idea led in late 2008 to an auto-translation tool that allows people to add captions in 50 languages instantly to YouTube videos they upload, increasing the number of people who can watch and understand the clips" 

Rebooting the Book (One Apple iPad Tablet at a Time) 
(Mark Sigal, O'Reilly Radar, 9/22/09)
In the above article,  Sigal digs into the history of Apple's past visions for the future, visions worth contemplating in 2009.  Sigal that believes the "iPad" could function as an interactive learning device, a chemistry and physics lab, a story-telling narrative vehicle, and an information and reference guide.  

Sigal provides some interesting scenarios that anyone interested in this area should seriously consider!



(Also read Sigal's "Apple, the Boomer Tablet, and the Matrix")

Exploring high quality, low-cost, and opensource eyegaze, and face tracking technologies:

Update:  More information about this topic is posted on the TechPsych blog.

I'm working with a few students who have multiple special needs who are in need of assistive communication technologies that are not expensive. Although my first idea was to look at eye gaze technology, the possibility of face tracking is also appealing. Take a look at the following video from SeeingMachines, a commercial company:



I have a couple of webcams, and I don't mind a trip to RadioShack. I can program a bit, too, but I have very limited time. I welcome any advice you might have.

The new iPhone icons can speak: "Voiceover" makes it accessible to people with vision impairments - Via David Pogue

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This is good news. According to David Pogue, in his Pogue's Posts column in the New York Times, "You’d never suspect that the iPhone 3GS, which has no physical keys at all, is one of the easiest smartphones in the world for a blind person to use. But now it’s true, thanks to VoiceOver."

Apple is mindful of people with disabilities. The virtual tour of the new 3GS has a closed-captioned option.

The iPhone 3GS. I want one.

Update on Accessibility and Interactive Games

It has been a while since I shared information about accessible games. If you are a parent of a child or teen with a disability, if you have a disability, or if you hope to keep on gaming through your golden years no matter what ails you, keeping an eye on innovations in this field is worth your time.

The following descriptions are from the IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group blog:

Global Assisitive Technology Wiki - AbilityNet Gate

Via One Switch:
"AbilityNet have put together a wonderful open project called the Global Assisitve Technology Wiki or GATE for short. In their words:

"GATE is actually a Wiki, which is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. It's a little like Wikipedia, but just concentrating on assistive technology. GATE is very simple to use, with a control panel enabling you to add content and more. More about Wikis . . .

This wiki has been created by AbilityNet, the UK's largest provider of advice and information on all aspects of Access to technology. The purpose of the wiki is to provide live and up to date information on all aspects of Assistive Technology."

"A really good place to start is their Switch Systems entry here. They are lacking their own accessible games section so hopefully someone (maybe me) will take up the gauntlet for that soon."

Mystic Mine Multi-player One Switch Game

"Just released this February - Mystic Mine is now available to buy on-line at Koonsolo for $19.95 (use www.xe.com for a currency conversion). It is massive fun as a multi-player game and highly recommended by OneSwitch.org.uk. If I had an all time top 10 list of one-switch games this would be a strong contender to make the list. Free demo version available here. Sweet." -posted by One-Switch Games on the Game Accessibility blog

Subtitles: Increasing Game Accessibility (Link to GamaSutra article)

Sip/Puff Mobile Phone Games?

"Pantech is one of three giant mobile phone manufacturers in Korea, among them Samsung and LG. Pantech sold over 10 million phones internationally in 2008, and under the "Sky" brand in the local market. Now, it's about to launch a blow-controlled mobile phone, the IM-S410K, which is also known as the Sky Wind." "Looks like it's got potential for some fun accessible games using sip/puff control." Link Via: Thomas Westin at IGDA GASIG Mailing List, via OneSwitch Games

Stevie Wonder calls for accessible technology

"Stevie Wonder is calling for greater access in technology: "[technology] being more accessible is always a plus and I think really, for various companies ... making it exciting and accessible for people who can see, it would take very little to make it accessible to everyone. So I encourage all the manufacturers to do that."

"When you can ... make it accessible and make it possible, you should just include that in the overall picture. ". Link via: Mike Taylor of Excitim.

Accessible Games Controller Video



Games for Health Trailer

GASIG Links

• IGDA
• IGDA GASIG
• IGDA GASIG Mailing List
• AbleGamers
• Accessible Gaming Shop
• AGRIP
• Audio Games
• D-Gamer
• Deaf Gamers
• Game-Accessibility.com
• Games[cc]
• Help You Play
• OneSwitch.org.uk
• OneSwitch.org.uk Blog
• Pin Interactive
• Retro Remakes
• Robert Florio
• UA-Games
• 7-128 Software

Game Accessibility Forums

• AbleGamers
• Audio Games
• Deaf Gamers
• Eye Tracker Forum
• IGDA GASIG
• Game-Accessibility

Other Links from the GASIC blog:

• Alt-Controls.com
• AssistiveGaming.com
• COGAIN
• Future Making Serious Games
• Game Forward
• The Gaming Kitsune
• NAMCO Rehabilitainment
• Special Effect
• Tera-Kirk Blog