TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Video Game to Get Blind Children Moving�and Laughing

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 06-11-10 | Comments

Blind children, who often have difficulty exercising, are at a high risk for obesity. Researchers from the University of Nevada-Reno have developed a new video game that promises to get blind children moving.

As childhood obesity is on the rise, experts are frequently emphasizing the importance of exercise for people of all ages. For blind children, physical activity presents a particularly unique challenge, as their motor skills are often poor. A technology project at the University of Nevada, Reno, is aiming to help blind children get more exercise through VI Fit, a video game innovation targeted specifically to the blind.

"Lack of vision forms a significant barrier to participation in physical activity, and consequently children with visual impairments have much higher obesity rates and obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes," said Eelke Folmer, a University of Nevada-Reno professor of computer science, who headed the project.

�Exergames� like Wii Fit have been popular for some time now. Users can play tennis, golf and other sports activities from their own living rooms by using handheld simulation devices. Until recently, however, such games have required visual interaction. A player has to see a tennis ball on the screen, for example, to hit it.

Eelke Folmer, project leader, right, plays VI Fit with a friend (source: Mike Wolterbeek, via University of Nevada-Reno).

VI Fit is revolutionizing the exergaming medium by providing nonvisual cues, such as noises and vibrations. Instead of seeing the tennis ball, a blind player can feel it in the handheld console and hear it whooshing by. The technology works as an add-on for current Wii users, who can download it for free. So far, scientists have developed VI Tennis and VI Bowling, although they hope to create several more games. Users can play the games against friends or the computer.

When the games were tested on blind children at Camp Abilities in New York, the results were quite promising. "We found our game to engage children into levels of active energy expenditure that were high enough to be considered healthy,� Folmer asserts, �which shows the feasibility of using video games as a health-intervention method."

Although the goal of the project is to get kids moving, judging from the pictures of VI Fit, the game also promises to get them laughing�perhaps an equally important outcome for children dealing with disability.