In this TechTalk, we will look at examples of inclusive immersive technology.
Transcript: If you’re interested in audio, music, and technology, then you’ve come to the right place. Hi! I’m Francesca, and you’re watching my TechTalk. In the last TechTalk, I talked about XR. In this video, we’ll look at how immersive technology can be used in special needs music. Let’s get started! Immersive technology is becoming more and more popular nowadays thanks to the gaming and entertainment industry. We can see a lot of immersive reality headsets like Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, and many more are now available on the market. Although these are mostly used for gaming and media consumption, more industries are trying to take advantage of this technology too. In the healthcare sector, this technology is used in different ways. For the purpose of this video, we will talk about its context in special needs education and music. After a brief search on the internet, it seems that there are quite a number of projects utilizing immersive technology for use in special needs already, whether it be for educational or therapeutic purposes. In the United States, their Department of Education invested $2.5 Million in a project called “VOISS: Virtual Reality Opportunities to Implement Social Skills.” Through the project they aim to give people with high-functioning autism and disability, a safe virtual space where they can learn social skills and other behaviors at their own pace. The project showed promising results and this further proves that the possibilities for how we can make the lives of people with autism and disabilities easier using this technology are endless. Another example of inclusive immersive technology is a project called “Performance Without Barriers.” This project aims to design virtual reality instruments for musicians with disabilities. The research team partnered with a software development company to develop “Infinite Instrument” for the HTC Vive headset. Although the virtual instrument has hand-held controllers, it is designed in such a way where different types of mobilities were taken into consideration. The controllers are a good addition because they make the whole experience more immersive; since musicians are able to engage not only their sense of sight and hearing, but also their sense of touch. The Performance Without Barriers team mentioned that most immersive technologies are to marketed to able-bodied users, and I think this is true. With the ever-growing popularity of immersive technologies, it is important to create immersive experiences that are inclusive too. Through the examples mentioned, the design of any immersive tool really needs to be well thought out, especially if it’s going to be used in special needs learning or music settings. Since I aim to develop a mixed reality musical instrument app for my final MSc project, I really need to research the best way to design my app’s interface so that it will be easy for people with limited movement to use it. In my next TechTalk, I will discuss design considerations, available AR app development software, and the MR hardware I plan to use. Once again, I’m Francesca, and thank you for listening to my TechTalk.
References:
- Oculus Rift Image: https://www.oculus.com/rift-s/
- Google Cardboard Image: https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/
- HTC Vive Image: https://www.theverge.com/2016/4/5/11358618/htc-vive-vr-review
- VOISS information: https://variety.com/2018/digital/features/voiss-interview-vr-hmd-1203086576/
- Performance Without Barriers Information 1: https://theconversation.com/how-were-designing-musical-instruments-with-the-help-of-disabled-musicians-and-vr-109119
- Performance Without Barriers Information 2: http://performancewithoutbarriers.com/
- Infinite Instrument (inc. images): https://medium.com/@zachkinstner/exa-the-infinite-instrument-user-guide-9b8ff6ab6bf7
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Francesca Lorico 