Games Applied to Children with Motor Impairment using the Myo Wearable Device

Abstract

The characteristic of immersion, involvement and motivation have made serious games an important tool to be used in the medical field. However, there are people that, having some sort of physical disability, are not able to, or do not feel motivated to play. This work presents a strategy to support human- computer interactions for children with a disability in their upper limbs through a wearable device, with the objective of improving access to digital games for the target audience. For the development of this work, the wearable device Myo was used to control a puzzle game as a means of providing the interaction between the individual and the game. In this context, the game is controlled with the movement of the user's upper limb that presents the disability, through the Myo device. For the validation of this research, the game developed was made available for individuals presenting a disability in the upper limbs, from an age range between five and fifteen years old, of the Association of Assistance to the Disabled Child (AACD). Soon, it was noticed that the participants of the research soon could play while utilizing the deficient limb with Myo's support and felt more motivated to play. On the long run, it is expected to contribute to the motivation of patients through technological innovation, so that the process of body consciousness is made more interactive.

Key words
physical disability; wearables; digital games; upper limbs