Hungry Cat—A Serious Game for Conveying Spatial Information to the Visually Impaired

Abstract

Navigation is done through obtaining spatial information from the environment and forming a spatial map about it. The visually impaired rely mainly on orientation and mobility training by a certified specialist to acquire spatial navigation skills. However, it is manpower intensive and costly. This research designed and developed a serious game, Hungry Cat. This game can convey spatial information of virtual rooms to children with visual impairment through game playing. An evaluation with 30 visually impaired participants was conducted by allowing them to explore each virtual room in Hungry Cat. After exploration, the food finding test, which is a game mode available in Hungry Cat, was conducted, followed by the physical wire net test to evaluate their ability in forming the spatial mental maps of the virtual rooms. The positive results of the evaluation obtained demonstrate the ability of Hungry Cat, in conveying spatial information about virtual rooms and aiding the development of spatial mental maps of these rooms through game playing.

Robots for Inclusive Play: Co-designing an Educational Game With Visually Impaired and sighted Children

“…Previous research has addressed the need to make games accessible for visually impaired players, either by adapting existing games [4,54,48] or by creating new dedicated games [10,38]. Research has particularly focused on adopting appropriate interaction modalities such as haptic or auditory feedback.…”

“…Beyond appropriate interaction techniques, an adaptation or simplification of gameplay is necessary to make games accessible [4,2]. In an educational context, games can help children to learn and develop certain skills while playing [10,38,50,52]. For example, in Hungry Cat [10] VI children feed a cat by finding food in a room.…”

“…In an educational context, games can help children to learn and develop certain skills while playing [10,38,50,52]. For example, in Hungry Cat [10] VI children feed a cat by finding food in a room. This was shown to help children develop spatial mental maps.…”

Use of technology by orientation and mobility professionals in Australia and Malaysia before COVID-19

“…Low vision aids range from simple handheld electronic magnifiers useful for reading signage and price tags, to bionic eye technologies that are surgically implanted and stimulate spots of light in response to environmental features [9,10]. Virtual reality systems simulate O&M experiences in a play-space before tackling real-world travel challenges [11][12][13][14].…”

"If you've gone straight, now, you must turn left" - Exploring the use of a tangible interface in a collaborative treasure hunt for people with visual impairments

“…A large number of them can be classified as computer-supported learning environments [48]. They were found to be enjoyable and engaging for learners [9], which can have a positive impact on learning [49].…”