[games_access] Deaf-Blind Computer Games: Braille or Morse - food for thought

Sun Sep 21 12:58:27 EDT 2014

Love the concept of Sightlence. Love the Morse to navigate the web, Thomas.
Superb stuff.

Obvious question: How can these be made available to developers/users?

Barrie

On 20 September 2014 09:17, Barrie Ellis <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk>
wrote:

> Interesting concepts for sure. Making it tough would be essential
> obviously. Keep it up!
>
> On 17 September 2014 18:47, Richard David Gordon Hayden <
> rdghayden at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> If I was personally working with a blind person wanting to have more
>> stuff to do, and they were inquisitive about programming, games,
>> interesting stuff, I would teach arduino and robots. I just built a feisty
>> little car that could provide a fun "reality meets gaming" So, let's say
>> the blind child starts with a noisy (from the motors) little motorized car
>> that likes to jerk around (making it hard to catch) but is in a loop where
>> it slows down and can be caught. When the child is older and actually
>> programming, the game could increase to include raised contained platforms,
>> narrow enough to make grabbing a malfunctioning robot from the playing
>> field. There could be audible pings from the front of the cars to give an
>> angle of direction. There would be a sensor that would be in the back that
>> would have to be protected. This could only be triggered if another player
>> "snuck" up behind player and crashed into back of the car. Each car would
>> have a different beeping sound, so each player could detect his own car.
>> If integration of blind children with other children, the game could be
>> adapted into a team concept, where there was a degree of protection
>> involved, the blind child's car would "be the flag" and team work would be
>> taught, and the ability to recognize we all have differences, inabilities,
>> and abilities, strengths and weaknesses. I am building a new keyboard that
>> would be a good controller for this device, and actually built the car
>> robot two days ago, and it is feisty and noisy! It reminds me of r2d2.  If
>> you guys think we can get me kickstarter funded lol i could build all kinds
>> of interactive "real world + computer " games, one a day!  =)
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 7:08 AM, Barrie Ellis <
>> barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks for that info. Potentially very cool. Seems a good fit with this
>>> kind of stuff too:
>>> http://switchgaming.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/tangible-media-deaf-blind-gaming.html
>>>  and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZplTj8th0bE
>>>
>>> It had me wondering if anyone plays a game in binary one-switch style.
>>> Morse input, and morse output. Would be fascinating to find out.
>>>
>>> I dropped Sense a line too prior to your message. They'll get two in one
>>> day. I wonder what they'll make of it. :)
>>>
>>> Barrie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 17 September 2014 14:32, Ian Hamilton <i_h at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> One that I know of that has been designed with that in mind is
>>>> sightlence:
>>>>
>>>> http://sightlence.com/
>>>>
>>>> That has been played by profoundly deaf-blind adults and children . The
>>>> adults he tested with had never played a game before, I don't know whether
>>>> the children had. I'm not sure if Mathias Nordvall is on the mailing
>>>> list or not but he'd be able to give some more information.
>>>>
>>>> If anyone reading isn't familiar with what Barrie means by braille
>>>> output, this what braille displays look like:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.blinksoftinc.com/Products/Refreshable-Braille/Brailliant_in_use.jpg
>>>>
>>>> There is a game that has been made specifically for braille displays, a
>>>> version of Tetris where you can feel the objects moving down the display:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.audiogames.net/db.php?action=view&id=Dotris
>>>>
>>>> Braille displays work with screenreaders, the text is just output to
>>>> the pins instead of to speech synthesis. But reading speed is far slower
>>>> than audio screenreaders. So there are a fair few screenreader compatible
>>>> games that are suitable for people who are deafblind, but anything
>>>> involving dynamic notifications etc is probably out.
>>>>
>>>> As far as how many people with very little vision/hearing actually do
>>>> that or not I don't know, I've dropped Sense a line though, they should
>>>> have an idea.
>>>>
>>>> Ian
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------
>>>> Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:14:05 +0100
>>>> From: barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk
>>>> To: games_access at igda.org
>>>> Subject: [games_access] Deaf-Blind Computer Games: Braille or Morse -
>>>> food for thought
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone out there have any knowledge of any deaf-blind computer
>>>> games that exist and/or methods to play?
>>>>
>>>> I'm aware of Morse Code based data-entry systems for switch / sip-puff
>>>> users. I'm aware of modern day braille output for computers. I've heard of
>>>> Morse buzzers so people can feel messages coming through.
>>>>
>>>> I'm not aware of any examples of people actually playing computer games
>>>> who are deaf-blind (I'm thinking almost no sight, and almost no hearing).
>>>>
>>>> It seems text based adventure games would be quite possible. But do
>>>> people actually do this.
>>>>
>>>> It seems grid based games that are tactile could be played over the
>>>> internet, using braille+keyboard or morse entry and morse buzzer...
>>>> Probably lots of other methods too.... Things like whack-a-mole seem
>>>> plausible.
>>>>
>>>> You could even have hybrid action + text games (obvious survival horror
>>>> thought.... describe an environment.... you can hear foot-steps.....
>>>> prepare to defend yourself...... - then recreate the foot steps in gentle
>>>> buzzes that get a bit louder... when you hear a panic buzz - mash your
>>>> button to fend off the attacker)... then go back to text description and
>>>> maybe an interface as simple as one tap for yes, two taps for no or braille
>>>> for yes/no. Here's some weird-stuff slightly related:
>>>> http://www.enigmaresearchgroup.com/article023.htm
>>>>
>>>> Being less obvious, you could recreate anything in a text adventure
>>>> with action / randomising elements, a bit like Regret of the Wind for
>>>> Dreamcast/Saturn.
>>>>
>>>> Any idea if any of this has ever taken place/takes place today?
>>>>
>>>> Seems like a logical progression for some of Eelke's V.I. work, maybe?
>>>> Maybe with hybrid display for those who have partial sight (and could aid
>>>> in the learning of braille / morse)....
>>>>
>>>> Barrie
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
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>>
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