Videogames in Therapy: A Therapist's Perspective

Annema, J-H., Verstraete, M., Vanden Abeele, V., Desmet, S., & Geerts, D. (2010). Videogames in therapy: a therapist's perspective Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Fun and Games doi>10.1145/1823818.1823828

Motion sensing video games have a certain appeal to physical and occupational therapists, but could be configured to serve the therapist and client better. This paper explores the use of video games for theraputic purposes from the perspective of the therapist. Therapeutic video games should be quick to start, should pause to allow the therapist to accommodate the client and should support store performance data.

The methodology consisted of both contextual inquiry (observing therapists and clients during therapy to organise observations into focus points) and workshops (to elicit feedback from therapists) to identify game characteristics that could be improved. The therapists were 11 physical and seven occupational therapists; clients were from two clinics for children with cerebral palsy; a clinic for adults with multiple sclerosis, and a centre that organized leisure activities for people with mental and physical impairments.

Findings

• Starting and calibrating the game should be quick and as straightforward as possible.
• On-screen instructions should be able to be skipped.
• Player-specific settings should be stored in profiles and automatically retrieved.
• Pausing play without exiting the game should be available to change settings; to position, encourage or instruct the client.
• Games should store performance data.

Link to article abstract
portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1823828

Autism and video game engagement

Engagement with electronic screen media among students with autism spectrum disorders
Mineo, B. A., Zeigler, W., Gill, S. & Salkin, D. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2009) 39:172-187

doi>10.1007/s10803-008-0616-0

 “Studies comparing the relative appeal and impact of technology-enabled interventions are few.” This study is concerned with the relative strength of engagement of four types of video-based content presented to a heterogeneous population of 42 children with autism.

The engaging quality of video-based media, combined with the preference for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for screen media, suggest its suitability for delivering instructional material. Movies, video games and virtual reality (VR) games all exist in popular culture and can thus non-stigmatizing. Benefits of video presentation in comparison to live instruction include consistently presented, infinitely repeatable content. Screen media make good use of limited resources and can communicate visually, with or without language. Virtual reality puts the person into the game as an avatar, or some closer rendition of themselves. VR scenarios can represent unreal situations – ones that simulate impractical or dangerous real life situations. Like other video games,  tasks presented in the virtual environment can be graded to accommodate the learners’ ability and feedback sculpted to be effective for that learner.

Design

To reflect the heterogeneous nature of ASD, baseline data were collected using a basket of five communication characteristics, reported in a binary fashion. Expressive language may be understood to be a predictor of functioning in the ASD population. The primary metric in selecting candidates was having an expressive lexicon of greater than 50 words and 38 of 42 participants “passed” this criteria.. Other scales included receptive lexicon, frequency of conventional yes/no use, frequency of conversation, and frequency of echolalia. Additionally, informants reported on the participants attention to and previous experience of screen media.

Individuals were sequentially assigned to one of three groups: seeing themselves doing a familiar activity ( self video), seeing a familiar other in a video game (other VR), or seeing themselves as they played a virtual reality game (self VR). Measures of engagement included gaze duration and vocalizations during a two-minute presentation of  the various media. All participants watched a video movie clip to establish a baseline response level. Reliability across two raters was established. (94% for vocalizations, 86% for gaze). Scores were adjusted for baseline score, expressive language score, and age.

Findings: Gaze was significantly higher in the “self VR” condition (p = .014) than the “other VR” condition, possibly related to the novelty of the VR game, seeing themselves or being able to interact with the game. Vocalizations were significantly higher in the “other VR” condition (p = .03) than “self VR” condition due either to seeing a familiar person on the screen, seeing the game or a combination of the two. There were no other significant differences between groups. Possibly participants high attention to movie clips during the baseline exposure to a movie clip created a ceiling effect that limited the ability to demonstrate a difference compared to other conditions.

“While the study did not yield definitive data about the relative engagement potential of media alternatives it does provide a foundation for future research including  guidance related to participant profiles stimulus characteristics and data coding challenges.”

Link to article: www.udel.edu/cds/downloads/Mineo_J.AutismDev.Disord_2009.pdf