Orlando Health Advanced Rehabilitation Institute and Full Sail University collaborated to host an Adaptive Gaming event at the Full Sail University Orlando Health Fortress on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
Full Sail University students and other vendors such as Logitech, Orlando Health and Limbitless Solutions from University of Central Florida, showcased different gaming technologies that are accessible to individuals with disabilities and are recovering with rehabilitation. Multiple adaptive technologies were showcased, including a Tobi five eye tracker, Logitech’s adaptive controller kit compatible with XBOX and PlayStation controllers and student made games.
Jacob Kaplan, Director of eSports Business Strategy at Full Sail University, expressed how it is important to create adaptive and inclusive gaming to foster community, support rehabilitation, and give people opportunities to do things they could not do before through the technologies.
The students that were involved with the creation of some of these technologies are a part of the Simulation Engineering Program at Full Sail. Halfway through the program, the students took a portfolio class called “Positive Cause” where they work on things like programming, 3-D printing and working with electronics.
“They’re utilizing what they’ve learned to create something that can help folks that need to be able to use adaptive tech,” said Kaplan. “Not just gaming, but everyday activities.”
One of Full Sail’s showcasing tables featured a prototype ladder that the Simulation Engineering Program made to be used at a local physical therapy office for patients in need of rehabilitation. Another one of their tables featured a Tobi five eye tracker that was presented with a game designed by Vittesh Raghavan, Full Sail University graduate student. The game “Star Gazer” is made up of different checkpoints in the game where you have to use your eyes to control a cursor on the screen to do things like connecting the stars of a constellation.
The two students displaying the tracker, Lucas Fuica and Lui De Brito, were each surprised with a $10,000 scholarship from Orlando Health for their hard work in the program.
“I was very surprised. It’s amazing,” said De Brito. “It’s way more than I could have thought.”
De Brito grew up in Brazil and earned a bachelor’s in design art before pursuing a master’s in design art at Full Sail. De Brito said she wants to use the knowledge she has gained from this program to help design games in Brazil for learning and accessibility.
“I want to invest in my community and bring the knowledge that I got from here and take it back to my country to help people,” said De Brito.
The Orlando Health Advanced Rehabilitation Institute works with individuals who have just faced a severe or traumatic injury or illness. The adaptive technologies and games create an opportunity for those individuals to recover and reconnect to the things they could or could not do before by catering to their accessibilities.
“We want to make sure that we make it personal to each individual and reintegrate them into their community, whatever that may be,” said Christine Davidson, Senior Director of Ambulatory Rehab Operations.
The event featured Logitech’s adaptive controller kit that is compatible with XBOX and PlayStation controllers. The kit is composed of velcro controller buttons that stick to a pad for gamers without fingers or hands.
Limbitless Solutions from UCF shared their customizable bionic arm which have nerve sensors built in to help with rehabilitation. The arm is meant to be interactive for users as they come with games that can be played with to learn different muscle movements of an arm. The panels on the arm are customizable with different colors to choose from, which can distract users from focusing too hard on their rehabilitation and relax their minds while playing the games.
“Gaming is a great way to take your mind off of everything that’s been happening and be able to get into the activity. Almost a service of distraction,” said Davidson. “It’s also a great way to engage in a community that kind of levels the playing field.”