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AbleGamers Charity, is nonprofit public charity that aims to improve the overall quality of life for those with disabilities through the power of video games. Video games allow individuals with disabilities to experience
situations that may be difficult or limited in the real world, provide social networking opportunities to maintain mental and emotional health, and participate in one of the world’s largest pastimes.
Digital outcasts: moving technology
forward without leaving people
behind by:
Kel Smith
This is a story about how a product is
developed for a small market...
What I liked most about this book is that the author identifies the benefits in gaming for people with disabilities; Kel Smith explores games in which studies have shown to be beneficial for people with certain
types of disabilities and how they can be used to help in rehabilitation therapy and used as a tool to educate in the classroom.
However he also identifies the risks associated with reliance on digital gaming / technology; in that it cannot be used to replace but rather augment learning
One of the areas of concern however, is in regards to financial barriers; many of the studies in this book have shown the benefits of gaming for people with disabilities; however the device / console or game is usually
customized / modified for the individual.
The author states that this is the most effective method for rehabilitation. Smith however understands that this can become very costly. While Smith states that gaming / technology is greatly influenced by people with disabilities, there is still a long way to go to making digital learning / the digital world accessible for people
with disabilities.
Before reviewing aspects of the book to support my above statements, it is imperative to first define disability and accessibility as defined by the author; as well as outline the three main groups referred to throughout the
book
Accessibility is the practice of accommodating multiple abilities, by making products and services easier to use for more people
in more situations. (Smith 2013)
Product designers, content providers, and the companies who support these teams approach accessibility as an add-on….they
consider the disabled sector a "lowest common denominator" when it comes to product design, and they are unaware of the universal benefit their solutions could potentially bring to a wider audience.
(Smith 2013)
The concept of universal design is also explored in this book; which involves producing buildings, products and environments that are accessible to older people, people without disabilities, and people
with disabilities – essentially beneficial to all rather than focusing on what could be beneficial to a specific group (Smith 2013)
At the simplest level, games tap into the part of the brain that controls sensory integration and decision making. Our brains have a natural, nagging desire to unlock order from disorder. It's the
same behavior that forces a gamer to stay up well past her bedtime, fully believing that she'll go to sleep once she achieves that final level. It's what makes a simple iPad game such as Angry Birds so
addictive, and why players with otherwise introverted personalities thrive in the online company of other gamers—they are part of a social tribe. (Smith 2013)
Digital Natives Digital Immigrants Digital Outcasts
Never known a world in which the Internet didn't exist
Framed by the attribute of persistent compensation
covers both age groups and yet remains distinct in their approach to technology
Expect technology to operate ubiquitously and symbiotically with their everyday lives
Constantly adapt their mental model to new forms of engagement
This is a group for whom technology is an enabler, allowing for connections and opportunities that otherwise may not exist
Consider email to be archaic; the instant text message is their preferred mode of communication
Every new device or software platform is an opportunity to "level up" into a new cognitive phase… yet, they still retain some thread to a past behavior
Yet, their ability to access these opportunities is compromised by attributes they cannot change
Ability to process multiple strains of information in a single stream
Recognizable by the verbal references they make to antiquated technology: "taping a show," "dialing the phone," or "making a mixtape”
Every day reveals something new in the digital world that may be customized for an audience segment
Consistently blur the boundaries between what's real and what's virtual
Some digital immigrants are highly proficient, almost to the level of a digital native
If not for the efforts of the digital outcasts, many wonderful products currently in the market would not exist. Whether or not digital outcasts are aware of it, they having an impact on the commercial marketplace
Expect technology services to keep up with their endlessly shifting priorities
Others bemoan having to learn a new system after they've finally become comfortable with a newly archived version
This innovation is influencing the market landscape that, at some point in time, has neglected their fundamental needs and desires
Medical Model Government Model Moral Model Cultural Model
Think of disability as a defect or illness requiring intervention
May view disability as a lack of function pertaining to a given job task
May associate disability with shame, guilt, pride, feelings of inadequacy ("I'm not good enough")
May regard disability according to the individual condition of the person
Sometimes in the form of rehabilitative therapy, which regards disability as something to be repaired
Or as a means to protect the rights of individuals in a court of law
Or empowerment ("nothing is going to hold me back")
Or the environment in which she resides, and the group(s) with which she associates
Defining Disability
And that is our challenge with defining ability—we have a cultural habit of categorizing what is and isn't a disability according to our perceptions. We imagine "the disabled" at one end of a spectrum, and those
who are physically or mentally capable on the other. The distinctions appear to be very clear: people can see or they can't. They use a wheelchair or they can walk assisted. (Smith 2013)
Biology does not work this way, however. We forget that there are social constructs within the continuum of gray that hide people with abilities of all kinds, even those we cannot detect on first
glance: the man with a cochlear implant, the woman with a restricted diet due to surgery or medication, or the mildly autistic child who responds well to treatment. (Smith 2013)
Therefore, these views narrows the complexity of disability to limitations and restrictions, with implications of whether "flawed" people can be educated or productive in society.
In recent years, a growing number of designers and developers have embraced Internet standards for the creation of accessible content. And yet, there is still a distance to be traveled when it comes to full digital
accommodation across all barriers to access. (Smith 2013)
So much technological innovation is being spawned from the disability sector (Smith 2013)
It's an extraordinary time for designers to recognize the full breadth and depth of adaptive experiences currently on display in today's world. (Smith 2013)
In 2010, doctors at St. Michael's Hospital in the University of Toronto made an intriguing discovery. Dr. Gustavo Saposnik, director of the Stroke Outcomes Research Unit, installed a device in the hospital called a Wii—an electronic game console for playing virtual sports and video games. He then tested
the use of the game on 20 patients recovering from stroke; half of the patients with an average age of 61 underwent eight 60-minute sessions on the Wii, the other half did not. After 2 weeks, patients using
the Wii reported a 30% improvement in motor skill efficiency over the group using conventional methods.
Today, physical therapists have adapted the Wii to treat a variety of conditions. The device has been used to assess dynamic balance, create visual stimulation, improve hand/eye coordination, and strengthen
range of motion.
Smith states that gaming devices are playing an important part in the monitoring of health outcomes, providing timely response to a patient's actions and showing evidence during lack
of action. Dr. Saposnik described his use of the Wii gaming platform as "doable, safe and more effective than routine therapy," an interaction model that can be translated across a
number of disability-related therapeutic areas. It's possible that the discoveries of Dr. Saposnik and other researchers may provide a way to translate the challenges of our "high-tech, low-touch society" into a self-organized and participatory solution for digital outcasts.
When video games first appeared in the late 1970s, it's doubtful that anyone envisioned the widespread effect that games have had on today's world. Most people who were in their teens during the early 1980s
may recall Pong, a minimalist quasi-tennis experience consisting of two straight lines and a dot. (Smith 2013)
For parents, the arrival of arcade games meant there was now one more distraction preventing their kids from doing their homework or playing outside. Pac-Man's cultural explosion in the obscures the fact that the
game's interaction principles really hadn't changed that much; the degree of success was still bound to a player's ability to execute simple tasks. If you created an electronic setting where a player could move in at
least four directions, acquire goods to achieve increasing point totals, and expire the player when he exhausts his supply of chances … you had essentially developed a game. (Smith 2013)
Fast-forward 30 years. Over time, graphics technology has improved and resulted in a more immersive experience with genuinely human responses—storylines for today's games are so complex that they warrant
sequels. As a result, video games (and, by extension, the adoption of multiplayer digital environments called virtual worlds) have emerged as fertile territories for academic research. (Smith 2013)
For most systems, playing video games means pushing many buttons to move, jump, grab, catch, and throw. From a standpoint of pure accessibility, it would appear that gaming
interfaces and virtual worlds have little to offer to people with disabilities. (Smith 2013)
The experience is largely visual in nature, the user interfaces require extensive hand/eye coordination, and the environments rely on
nonpersistent reminders to deliver information. For users who are unaccustomed to this level
of multitasking, or lack the ability, closely integrating social literacy with playing habits
appears to be a reach. (Smith 2013)
Gaming and Disability
New gaming technologies are providing input designers an opportunity to explore different
forms of interaction with digital objects. These uses are increasingly being adopted as ways
to help people with disabilities take care of themselves and acclimate to the world around
them. A number of game scenarios explore rehabilitation for people with physical
disabilities, as well as those recovering from an emotional trauma. (Smith 2013)
However, Rubenstein and Hersh once wrote, "In the absence of detailed information we all work from assumptions … we tend to design for ourselves, not for other people." We seek to understand
behavior and apply it to quantitative metrics in order to support or refute our original hypotheses. At times, though, human nature takes over and we adhere to prejudice as our starting point. (Smith
2013)
Gaming and Disability
Therefore, our assumptions which are based on imbedded stereotypes impact the design process. While an idea may start with good intentions, personal beliefs alter the intended outcome. Its is
therefore easier to revert back to familiar ideas then delve into the unfamiliar.
Interacting with games requires some means of input, which is commonly a physical controller equipped with buttons and joysticks to maneuver and control game objects. In the
fall of 2010, Microsoft did away with controllers altogether by releasing a gaming system called the Kinect. The Kinect was the first consumer-based interface platform where all physical barriers to entry were finally removed—no mouse, no keyboard, no controller—
letting players activate the system by standing in front of the screen and moving their bodies. With the physical layer all but removed, this higher level of engagement rendered the "interface" between people and computers more diffuse. As a result, we now live in a
world where a video game object can be controlled by simply walking past it. (Smith 2013)
Kinesthetic games
Kinesthetic games are especially effective on kids with autism
because they can improve motor skills, and interacting with others in
an environment can help them focus on tasks within a social
setting. The Kinect experience not only helps kids identify their bodies
in relation to the surrounding environment, it also motivates them to become acquainted with taking turns and simple problem solving (such as asking for permission to turn the system on). (Smith 2013)
Evidence shows that virtual reality training may help improve complex social attention skills in school-aged
children with higher-functioning autism, according to the American
Psychiatric Association. A pilot program took 18 children with autism and fitted them with head-mounted controls. The displays showed an
image of a virtual peer in the form of an avatar. The children were then asked to speak to the virtual peer,
who faded away if ignored and came back when addressed. Results of the "fade conditioning" exercise indicated
that social attention was able to be manipulated by tuning the response.
Virtual reality (VR) allows people with physical or cognitive barriers the
ability to engage by transcending their limitations. (Smith 2013)
Virtual Reality Virtual worlds are 3D immersive environments accessed through
a computer. Game players are confronted with obstacles intentionally built into the software, while users of virtual worlds seek to achieve self-directed goals through engagement and
collaboration. Virtual worlds are populated by avatars, which can assume nearly any shape and operate as points of reference for
the personal experience. (Smith 2013)
To fully understand virtual worlds, it is important to recognize that people who take part in them can fall into any of three categories: augmentationists, immersionists, or experimentalists. All have
applications of relevance to digital outcasts.
One of the key benefits of virtual therapy is the ability it affords to offer simulation exercises. The Sacramento Mental Health Center in Second Life once provided an authentic representation of a
schizophrenic episode. With visual hallucinations and subliminal voices providing an accurate depiction
Augmentationists Immersionists Experimentalists
View virtual worlds as a means to enhance their real-life existence
People who view virtual worlds as an alternative parallel to their real-life existence
Consider virtual worlds to be a controlled laboratory to observe or modify behavior
Personalize their virtual identities to closely resemble their real lives
Keep their real-life identities separate from that of their avatars; sometimes augment their real-life experience as a form of therapy
Such as a college instructor teaching a class from a remote location; counselors who work with patients dealing with substance abuse or emotional problems
A team of scientists in Texas called Waterloo Labs developed a way for quadriplegics to play video games, using the Mario Eye Controller, by manipulating the field of electrode activity that surrounds a
human eye. As sight direction changes, so too does the field around the eye. These signals are passed to a data controller that interfaces with a Nintendo game console, which filters and amplifies each eye movement to precisely control some action within the game. This unique form of eye-tracking provides
interaction possibilities without requiring any bodily movement at all (Smith 2013)
Teachers are very careful to describe the use of iPad apps as "assistive technology," noting that a device cannot replace teaching
in classrooms by dedicated professionals. Rather, the use of apps reinforces lessons taught in
the classroom while removing some of the social stigma associated with bulky AAC
devices. (Smith 2013)
The risk with any consumer device or system is that it will be used
excessively as stimulation rather than for learning or reinforcing. Screen-based technology has the ability to activate a wide range of senses,
especially for multitouch interfaces controlled through speech or gestures.
For children on the spectrum, it's important to distinguish between a stimulation device operating as a
"babysitter" and a developmental tool with clearly defined benchmarks.
(Smith 2013)
Our enduring concept of play—such as the spontaneity and resourcefulness exhibited by children, when their imagination is set free—does not depend on the vehicle
through which the experience is delivered.
Technology may provide a meaningful context for these activities or it may operate as an engagement tool where other methods have failed, but it just that—a tool.
Technology is no more a miracle for children with autism than the parents, teachers, and therapists who devote their lives in service.
The miracle is performed when the tap of an icon is the result of a connection made between instructor and student.
The iPad alone can't let a parent know that her son needs to go to the bathroom, but modifying behavior consistently through the use of the tool can help reduce the
obstacles to a successful outcome.
As with companies who wish to pursue innovation in their respective markets, the key is to focus on behavior, not the device.
(Smith 2013)
The intention of universal design is to flatten that imbalance. Architects of public spaces, who have long demonstrated the importance of designing for people of all abilities, employ a design methodology that could one day be applied to emerging
technology products.
What works well for people with challenges will result in widespread benefit to all individuals. "Up to this point, the disabled community has really been seen as a small market,“…That's going to change. Things made for us will benefit other
people.“ (Smith 2013)
Integrating accessibility as part of the product design process begins with solid strategy – which involves developing accessible online content, ensuring that
aesthetic creativity is equitable and welcoming to users of all abilities
The primary key is not to treat accessibility as an "add on," but rather a significant component of the project scope. Many project teams acknowledge the importance
of designing for all users, yet are uncertain where or how to begin.(Smith 2013)
Universal Design
Our interpretation of ability can sometimes be tainted with inaccuracies and broad assumptions. Sometimes we pity (or worse, we patronize) the families
who are affected. Other times we compartmentalize people with disabilities into predefined categories. Although this is an understandably natural tendency for people without disabilities, it does create challenges that must be confronted
internally when designing for digital outcasts.
We cannot fine-tune product design according to a flawed sense of judgment. Failing to recognize that stereotypes exist, and how they affect our attitudes, results in an uncomfortable dichotomy. For inclusive design to be successful,
overcoming these assumptions is a necessary first part of the research process. For people with disabilities, battling the digital outcast stereotype can
sometimes be a greater challenge than the disability itself. (Smith 2013)