Hello, my name is Liam Mason and I'm a PhD
student from University of Lincoln in the UK.
On behalf of myself and my co authors, Katherine Gerling, Patrick Dickinson,
Jussi Holopainen, Kieran Hicks, and Lisa Jacobs, I'm presenting our paper
including the experiences of physically disabled players
in mainstream guidelines for movement based games.
Our work is built upon three main points.
Firstly, movement based games offer
opportunities for physically engaging play, providing a wide range of benefits.
Current guidelines are either too abstract
or focus on the experience of nondisabled players, not considering the impact
that bodily differences may have on play experience.
And lastly,
movement based play for disabled players is viewed as a therapeutic intervention,
prioritising medicalized views on disability and health outcomes,
building our work around two research questions how does physical disability
need to be accounted for in movementbased games, and how do guidelines need to be
adjusted to include physically disabled players?
Our work mainly focuses on Mueller
and Isbisters movement based guidelines, so I'll quickly cover these now before
diving into the study and findings of our work.
Their work covers three broad categories.
Movement requires special feedback, movement leads to bodily changes,
and movement emphasises certain kinds of fun.
From our perspective, we consider these guidelines as a primary
reference point for the creation of enjoyable movement based games.
However, like other work seeking to guide the development of enjoyable movement
based games, these guidelines do not consider diversity among players bodies,
nor players who might have different needs and perspectives on physical play.
Our work thus seeks to bridge the gap between these recommendations,
to provide supplementary considerations which can be used to guide the design
of movement based games, which are accessible to disabled players,
and emphasise engaging positive play experiences over therapeutic outcomes.
In our work, we present a two part study which explores perspectives of people
with physical disabilities on movement based games.
We used a set of game concepts as
conversation staters and prompts for both parts.
Design concepts.
For example, paper prototypes have previously been used to engage research
participants in conversations about design requirements.
In the case of games, they can foster exchange between designers
and players who are given a reference point for reflection.
We created our concepts in a three hour design workshop involving six designers,
the aim of which was to create game ideas encompassing a wide variety of game
mechanics, controls and interactions suitable for physical disabled players.
Eight final concepts were selected.
For each, we created a short demonstration video, textual description and graphical
representations of the game and physical player input.
Demonstration videos included a 20 to 60 second
video mock up of gameplay footage accompanied by a video insert of a player
performing the movements that would control the game.
A quick overview of one concept is Kung Fu Skateboarding, a single player,
endless runner game where the player controls a skateboarder who is constantly
moving forward on a road filled with hazards.
The core gameplay is similar to many runner games, such as Temple Runner,
but in this instance, Colliding with a hazard will not kill
the player, but instead momentarily slow them down.
The game uses several different gestures
in a combination of wheelchair movement for game control.
The conversation goal for kung fu
skateboarding was to encourage participants to reflect
on the consequences of making mistakes in movement based games, for example,
a loss of time when colliding with a game object.
We designed semistructured interviews
around physical activity, gaming, and our concepts.
The goal of this step of our research was to provide an in depth exploration
on the perspectives of physical disabled people or movement based games.
Reviews were carried out in two steps,
covering demographic information and individual background of participants,
covering aspects of physical activity and experience of movement based games,
and secondly, reflections on physical activity and movement based play.
With our game concepts, we had six participants in total,
four male, two female, aged between 19 and 61 years of age.
Data was analysed using interpretive
phenomenological analysis, a qualitative approach that aims
to provide detailed examinations of personal lived experiences.
To supplement our findings, we conducted an online survey with 21
respondents that included participation from a broader group of respondents
in an effort to avoid missing important groups in our work.
Qualitative data was analysed using
inductive dramatic analysis, while quantitative was analysed using SPSS.
Our analysis led to three key findings.
Firstly, meaningful individual adaptation that allows players to adjust interaction
paradigms and in game challenges to their needs.
For example, players might struggle
with specific movements and giving them an opportunity to replace them
with something more suitable would be highly beneficial.
Secondly, our results show that social
play is not universally positive with disabled people recounted instances
of being physically active that we're stigmatising rather than empowering.
And lastly, movement based games need
to be engaging first and physically challenging second,
suggesting that they would like to see play prioritised over exertion,
and that this approach offers the opportunity of masking physical
activity, which is something perceived as uncomfortable.
We draw from our findings to review
and contextualise the movement based guidelines discussed earlier.
For each guideline in our paper,
we include our own commentary and how they do or do not address the needs
and preferences of physically disabled people and how they need to be interpreted
in the context of physical disability for the basis of time constraints.
In this presentation, we will give one example.
For the full list, please check out our paper,
for example, facilitate social fun.
Our results suggest that the notion
of social fun needs to be carefully addressed, while the movement based
guidelines suggest to turn the game into a spectacle for others to enjoy watching.
Physically disabled.
Participants reported that being physically active in the presence
of others was uncomfortable exactly because of being viewed as a spectacle.
However, participants did point out
that they would be interested in playing with others, such as family and friends.
In conclusion, we reject the initial call of the offers to make the game a spectacle
instead prioritising players comfort zones and facilitating optional social
fun that does not turn a disability into a spectacle.
In conclusion, movement based games offer
an opportunity for physical activity and our work makes a contribution towards
ensuring accessibility of such systems for disabled players not just on a level
of basic system access but also in terms of engaging play experiences.
We highlight how existing recommendations for design of movement based games for non
disabled players needs to be adjusted to also take into account the needs
and preferences of physically disabled players.
Here, our work takes the first step towards identifying game features and mechanics
that need to be designed with more nuance when wishing to include physically
disabled players in mainstream movement based play.