FUN – About (Academic)

About the FUN project (Academic)

Short version:

Independent exploration of the physical world may be difficult or even impossible for children who have motor impairments. This can mean that they have limited opportunities to play and to learn about the physical world, both crucial components of the development process. Typical learning environments are designed based on several assumptions, many of which do not hold for children and young people (CYP) who have motor impairments.

There is a limited number of specialist play and education materials that are accessible for CYP with motor impairments. In addition, those materials that are accessible frequently lack a tactile component. They are often controlled from a distance with no physical contact with the user. Digital learning/play environments and serious games/edutainment could help, but are often not accessible to those who use alternative access methods such as eye-tracking or other non-conventional interfaces. In addition, virtual environments (VEs) used in combination with advanced interfaces (e.g. Virtual Reality, eye-tracking and haptic devices) could provide an alternative and accessible means for CYP who have motor impairments to develop knowledge and abilities relating to the physical world.

This project is designed to enable children with disabilities to manoeuvre on-screen objects or characters around a virtual world, enabling them to learn physical, spatial and language concepts, using appropriate assistive interface technologies. This would enable them to experience, in a virtual sense, concepts that they are not able to in the real world. The novelty of this work is in the combined use of such interfaces for those with complex disabilities and with the aim of using a VE to develop key skills in its users, where new knowledge will be generated in understanding the users and how VEs can be employed for educational purposes.

Medium version:

Independent exploration of the physical world may be difficult or even impossible for children who have motor impairments. This can mean that they have limited opportunities to play and to learn about the physical world, both crucial components of the development process. Typical learning environments are designed based on several assumptions, many of which do not hold for children and young people (CYP) who have motor impairments.

There is a limited number of specialist play and education materials that are accessible for CYP with motor impairments. In addition, those materials that are accessible frequently lack a tactile component. They are often controlled from a distance with no physical contact with the user. Digital learning/play environments and serious games/edutainment could help, but are often not accessible to those who use alternative access methods such as eye-tracking or other non-conventional interfaces. In addition, virtual environments used in combination with advanced interfaces (e.g. VR, eye-tracking and haptic devices) could provide an alternative and accessible means for CYP who have motor impairments to develop knowledge and abilities relating to the physical world.

The aim of this project is to create a VE in which the target population can manoeuvre on-screen objects or characters to learn about spatial and directional concepts (e.g. far away, left and right) and basic physics laws and interactions (e.g. gravity, object collision, object mass). Importantly, a modular system interface will be designed and developed providing the user with interaction in a manner that suits their access needs, with user profiles providing customised accessibility settings. The system will be multi-platform, to be delivered in web, desktop and VR settings using HMDs. Emphasis will be placed upon multiplayer modes, which provide a means for CYP who have motor impairments to play and learn together with their peers as well as parents and teachers. This could have a significant impact on their socio-behavioural development. In addition, a simple haptic feedback device will be used to provide a sense of physical involvement or ‘connectedness’ by sending tactile sensations in the form of vibrations to the user when their onscreen object or character collides with another object or a boundary.  Finally, the FOR issues mentioned above will be ameliorated by always keeping the control of the onscreen character in the user’s FOR. The web deployment would allow world-wide free access to the bespoke system for teaching CYP with physical impairments these basic developmental concepts. At the same time, this would feed our research team with the valuable data on use patterns, allowing us to improve the system and expand to other use cases.

The proposed solution aims to develop the target population’s:

  • Directional language – forwards, backwards, left, right, up, down, towards, away;
  • Spatial awareness – awareness of self in space and the position of objects relative to each other;
  • Understanding of the properties of objects – size, shape;
  • Planning skills – devising strategies for solving problems;
  • Sequencing skills – carrying out a task that has a number of stages;
  • Ability to learn and play – both alone and with others;
  • Transferable skills – the skills developed within virtual 3D environments may transfer to real world applications such as controlling powered mobility.

The project consists of three main phases: a development phase, an experiment phase and a dissemination phase. The experiment phase will choose an appropriate methodology, design and conduct an experiment to evaluate the solution against the above participant learning aims. This knowledge can be developed, applied and measured through completion of a set of controlled targeted tasks, focusing on the participant’s ability to complete the tasks, error rates, and completion times, over time. The developmental progress will be evaluated through a set of user studies with CYP with motor impairments at Victoria Education Centre. In addition, usability and user experience will be evaluated.

Long version:

People with mobility impairments may have difficulties with sitting, standing and walking and may be fully or partially dependent on mobility aids or others to get around or conduct activities of daily living. There are around 2.6 million people with some form of motor impairment in the UK [1] with around 6% of children having a disability in Great Britain [2]. Furthermore, such motor impairments are known to persist into adulthood, further impacting on the ability of these individuals to achieve a physically active lifestyle [3].  Profoundly motor impaired children have fewer opportunities to learn about the physical world compared to their typically developing peers largely because of environmental and accessibility issues which can limit their development.

Typical learning environments are designed based on several assumptions, many of which do not hold for children and young people (CYP) who have motor impairments. For example, learning and play environments may require CYP to move around by crawling, walking or climbing and to manipulate objects using fine motor control. CYP with motor impairments may need adaptations to their environments and access to materials in very specific ways. In addition, those CYP often need assistance from others during learning and play which can limit their independence and can lead to such activities being adult-directed rather than following the direction desired by the CYP.

There is a limited number of specialist play and education materials that are accessible for CYP with motor impairments. In addition, those materials that are accessible frequently lack a tactile component. They are often controlled from a distance with no physical contact with the user. Assistive Technologists (AT) may be able to adapt some existing materials to make them accessible for this population. However, this can inadvertently increase the complexity and cognitive load for the individuals who use them. Digital learning/play environments and serious games/edutainment could help, but are often not accessible to those who use alternative access methods such as eye tracking or other non-conventional interfaces. Furthermore, while the AT industry manufactures suitable specialist hardware and software solutions, including learning materials, toys and environmental control equipment, low sales volume products are often prohibitively expensive, and may have a limited repertoire. Additionally, there are even fewer options available for those who have profound motor impairments.

Physical robots have been adapted and used successfully to provide children with motor impairments with opportunities to learn about physical control and the manipulation of objects [4]. However, such systems can be inaccurate, are complex, costly, and require dedicated space and technical support. In addition, frame of reference (FOR) difficulties can occur with remote controlled devices such as toys, vehicles and robotics i.e. usually the movements relate to the FOR of the device rather than the operator. This can be very confusing, especially for those who are new to directional concepts.

Virtual environments (VEs) used in combination with advanced interfaces (e.g. eye tracking and haptic devices) could provide an alternative and accessible means for children and young people who have motor impairments to develop knowledge and abilities relating to the physical world [5, 6]. This approach has the benefits of flexibility in terms of ease of access and configuration of activities, relatively low cost, and ease of deployment leading to potentially wider impact.

The aim of this project is to create a VE in which the target population can manoeuvre on-screen objects or characters to learn about spatial and directional concepts (e.g. far away, left and right) and basic physics laws and interactions (e.g. gravity, object collision, object mass). Importantly, a modular system interface will be designed and developed providing the user with interaction in a manner that suits their access needs, with user profiles providing customised accessibility settings. The system will be multi-platform, to be delivered in web, desktop and VR settings using HMDs. Emphasis will be placed upon multiplayer modes, which provide a means for CYP who have motor impairments to play and learn together with their peers as well as parents and teachers. This could have a significant impact on their socio-behavioural development. In addition, a simple haptic feedback device will be used to provide a sense of physical involvement or ‘connectedness’ by sending tactile sensations in the form of vibrations to the user when their onscreen object or character collides with another object or a boundary.  Finally, the FOR issues mentioned above will be ameliorated by always keeping the control of the onscreen character in the user’s FOR. The web deployment would allow world-wide free access to the bespoke system for teaching CYP with physical impairments these basic developmental concepts. At the same time, this would feed our research team with the valuable data on use patterns, allowing us to improve the system and expand to other use cases.

The proposed solution aims to develop the target population’s:

  • Directional language – forwards, backwards, left, right, up, down, towards, away;
  • Spatial awareness – awareness of self in space and the position of objects relative to each other;
  • Understanding of the properties of objects – size, shape;
  • Planning skills – devising strategies for solving problems;
  • Sequencing skills – carrying out a task that has a number of stages;
  • Ability to learn and play – both alone and with others;
  • Transferable skills – the skills developed within virtual 3D environments may transfer to real world applications such as controlling powered mobility.

The project consists of three main phases: a development phase (WP2-3), an experiment phase (WP4) and a dissemination phase (WP5-6). The experiment phase will choose an appropriate methodology, design and conduct an experiment to evaluate the solution against the above participant learning aims. This knowledge can be developed, applied and measured through completion of a set of controlled targeted tasks, focusing on the participant’s ability to complete the tasks, error rates, and completion times, over time. The developmental progress will be evaluated through a set of user studies with CYP with motor impairments at Victoria Education Centre. In addition, usability and user experience will be evaluated.

References:

[1] ODI. Disability statistics and research, 2013.

[2] Family Resources Survey 2010/11.

[3] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(18)31246-7

[4] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2017.1318308

[5] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/17483107.2016.1167970

[6] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2055668316668147