Meeting the needs of people with neuro-developmental disorder through a phygital approach

Abstract

The paper introduces Reflex, a mirrored camera mobile training application for persons with Neuro-Developmental Disorder (NDD). The game, offered through a cross-platform application for smartphones and tablets, bridges the digital and the physical worlds by tracking, via a bottom-looking mirror positioned on the device camera, physical items placed on the table. This interaction paradigm defined as phygital, its co-designed features and the first pilot study reveal an unexplored potential for learning. CCS CONCEPTS • Social and professional topics → People with disabilities; • General and reference → Empirical studies; • Software and its engineering → Interactive games.

Phygital interfaces for people with intellectual disability: an exploratory study at a social care center

“…In preliminary publications [21,22,55], the authors described the design rationale and requirements of the system and provided details about a first exploratory study aimed at deriving the right target group from a pool of 27 people with neuro-developmental disorder.…”

“…The Phygital Interface used for the purpose of our exploratory study is Reflex [21,22,55], Reflex was co-designed with ID specialists and developed at our lab, taking inspiration from a commercial system named Osmo [59]. Reflex provides a number of game-based Fig.…”

“…triangle, square, trapeze) and participants have to match the figure by putting every item in its exact position and rotation. According to the literature [55] and the practice we observed in several care centers during past research, Tangram is commonly used in interventions for persons with ID by being usable by all participants of the center regardless their functioning levels.…”

“…For the purpose of the research we exploited a phygital system called Reflex, co-designed with specialists, developed at our lab [21,22,55]. Reflex is an application on iOS and Android devices inspired by Osmo, an educational app developed by Tangible Play [58,59].…”

“…For the purpose of our research, we defined a set of game-based tasks that could be performed using physical materials only (paper cards, typical tools in ID interventions), digital materials only (on tablet, also frequently used at ID care centers), or a phygital system (called Reflex [21,22,55]). Reflex is inspired to a commercial system named Osmo [59].…”