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Free "exergames" designed for people with
visual impairments.
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| Article Type: | Brief article |
| Subject: |
Video games
(Design and construction) Video games (Usage) Visually disabled persons (Physiological aspects) Self-help devices for the disabled |
| Pub Date: | 08/01/2011 |
| Publication: | Name: Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness Publisher: American Foundation for the Blind Audience: Academic Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Health Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 American Foundation for the Blind ISSN: 0145-482X |
| Issue: | Date: August, 2011 Source Volume: 105 Source Issue: 8 |
| Topic: | Computer Subject: Handicapped access device |
| Product: | Product Code: 3651920 Electronic Games NAICS Code: 339932 Game, Toy, and Children's Vehicle Manufacturing SIC Code: 3944 Games, toys, and children's vehicles; 7372 Prepackaged software |
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| Accession Number: | 265870252 |
| Full Text: |
As many articles in this journal have attested, lack of physical
activity is a serious health concern for individuals who are visually
impaired, as they have fewer opportunities and incentives to engage in
physical activities that provide the amount and kind of stimulation
sufficient to maintain adequate fitness and to support a healthy standard of living. Exergames are video games that use physical activity as input and have the potential to change sedentary lifestyles and associated health problems. Since all commercially available exergames are not accessible to people with visual impairment, the VI Fit research project sought to develop exergames that can be played without visual feedback in order to increase the participation of users with visual impairments. All VI Fit games can be downloaded for free and played using a motion-sensing controller (the remote designed for the Nintendo Wii gaming system), which is capable of providing vibrotactile and audio cues. Three VI Fit games are currently available: Pet-n-Punch, inspired by whacka-mole, asks a user to protect a field of carrots by bopping varmints on their head; VI Bowling implements the game play of the Wii Sports Bowling motor learning feature that allows players to find the direction in which to throw their ball using vibrotactile feedback, and audio and speech effects are used to indicate the result of each throw; like VI Bowling, VI Tennis implements the game play of Wii Sports Tennis. To play these free games, individuals need a Wii remote and a windows PC with Bluetooth support or a USB Bluetooth dongle or adapter can be used. VI Fit is a collaborative research project between Eelke Folmer and Tony Morelli of the University of Nevada in Reno, John Foley of the State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland, and Lauren Lieberman of SUNY Brockport. For more information, contact: VI Fit; web site: |
| Gale Copyright: | Copyright 2011 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. |
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