Learning Success Made Easy

Jigsaw, Memory, Connect Four – also for severely disabled children these games should be a natural part of their everyday lives. Therefore, it has been the genesis project’s mission to design popular games in a way that they are playable for all.

01/10/2011

Playing "Catch me" you have to
bring your meeples to the goal as
soon as possible; © genesis

The dice shows six points. The red meeple can be put. And bang, the green meeple can be kicked. Green has to start from scratch. Red may roll again. Almost everyone knows the fun at a social gathering of ludo.

Gloating and anger desired

“With this game everything started nearly 15 years ago,” remembers Ethelbert Hörmann, CEO of genesis Systems gGmbH. “We wanted that also children with severe disabilities and totally disabled ones can take part in the social interaction of such games.” That’s why Hörmann and his colleagues developed barrier-free games for the computer that can be easily played with a keyboard, a mouse or even by eye control – depending on what is possible for the player.

The interdisciplinary project of software and hardware developers, educators, therapists, psychologists, designers and parents wants to feature the games as a group experience. “It is paramount to me that a severely disabled child in its wheelchair plays these games and is happy and laughs. This is the greatest thing ever,” Hörmann summarises his top priority. Encouragement is only in second place.

With the different games that can be played in nine game modes, different aspects are taught: the children learn to better understand relationships and train their powers of concentration. Through the targeted use of colors and tones their perception is encouraged and in reaction games they can improve their dexterity.

Children train their perception and
their concentration by playing
those games; © genesis

“All this is important for their development and also means a bit of normality,” says Hörmann. “Therefore, in the games the children are supposed to make typical emotional experiences such as gloating, anger, a certain degree of aggression or even the feeling of power, when they can kick an opponent at ‘Catch me’.”

The design manager at project genesis also emphasises that it is important to all contributors that their learning games make fun and are played with pleasure. “If they would only be regarded as a duty, we would not have achieved our goal,” he explained. “Learning should be a pleasant side effect.”

Classics redesigned

“About five years ago we started to design all the games entirely electronically,” says Hörmann. In 2005, the prototype for the 1.0 version was ready. Ludo got the name “Catch me” and Connect Four turned into “Chain of four”.

Gradually, more and more games were made, known ones such as “Snake” and also newly developed ones such as “Snowman”, “Floral bouquet” and “Colour gun”. Initially all games were playable in the five keys mode, but gradually there were less and less keys. Today, almost all games are played with only one key or even by eye control.

All games can be played with up to five of those keys. But one can also use every keyboard or even an eye control; © genesis

Games like Memory, Sudoku, or even some jigsaw games can be equipped with own images. “This individual adaption is primarily for recognition,” says Hörmann. “This is particularly important and effective for patients with traumatic brain injury who have to relearn words.” In such cases, for example, images of objects from their own home or by relatives are used.

Nothing seems impossible

The games live from their visual effects. However it was important for the designers to use clear and simple contrasts and shapes. Thus, even people with cognitive problems can play the games.

Developing all those games, Hörmann and his colleagues have especially concentrated on severely and totally disabled children and adults with learning difficulties. Other target groups could be stroke and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients.

The game "Battleship" can also
be played only by acoustic
signals; © genesis

A little boy has inspired the developers to think about a new way: “We have been approached some time ago by a blind boy who really wanted to play ‘Battleship’,” remembers Hörmann. “Since the game initially worked exclusively on the visual perception, we have therefore given some thought on how we can adjust the game.” The little boy can now dump ships only by acoustic signals – with a lot of fun.

Ethelbert Hörmann and his colleagues have been inspired by this enquiry and now test some other games for the blind. “Until now, all these are only prototypes,” says Hörmann. But that’s the way it also started with “Catch me” and “Chain of four”.

Nadine Lormis
REHACARE.de