Gloob
Rescue - Image credit: Design Interactive, Inc.
Gloob Rescue,
developed by Design Interactive, Inc.,
is this year’s winner of the People’s Choice Award at SGS&C.
Gloob Rescue merges
rehabilitation with gaming by having players rescue fun characters (Gloobs) using
a Kinect-based tracking system. It was designed to assist children with
cerebral palsy (CP) as a rehabilitation focused game to expand upper limb
strength, range of motion, and rehabilitation progress.
The game was developed under National Science Center (NSF) funding and in
partnership with cerebral palsy experts at the Conductive Education Center of
Orlando (CECO), Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), and Blue Orb.
The primary audience for the game is children (K-6) with limited range
of motion of their upper extremities (arms, elbow, and shoulder).
Gameplay
Gloob
Rescue - Image credit: Design Interactive, Inc.
Gloob Rescue
integrates with a Microsoft Kinect v2 to track user motion and drive individualized
training progression. Gloob characters have fallen into a pit of goo and need
to be freed. Players move their hands over the Gloobs for an adjustable period
of time (0.5 – 5 seconds), to free them. Users are given an adjustable period
of time, based on their training progression (00:00 – 59:59 minutes), to rescue
the Gloobs. The game ends when a user has rescued all 8 Gloobs, or the time has
expired. Gloob placement and hover duration incrementally increase to drive
training progression.
Gloob
Rescue - Image credit: Design Interactive, Inc.
Score is accumulated by number of Gloobs saved. Additionally, skill
progression can be measured by decreasing the time provided to save all 8
Gloobs, and increasing the ‘hold’ time. Finally, joint angles and limb
positions are captured by the Kinect and determine the player’s training
progression in terms of increased mobility, strength, and range of motion.
Breakthroughs
Gloob Rescue takes
an innovative approach towards game based rehabilitation for children with
cerebral palsy (CP). It allows for upper limb rehabilitation of audiences with
cerebral palsy by: using body movements as game inputs; is themed for a young audience;
is based on motions associated with self-care and feeding; is usable by a
wide-range of users with CP; and is considered interesting and motivating by
users with CP.
Gloob Rescue
utilizes colorful custom made graphics, physical activity training, and variable
user set difficulty to provide a higher level game in a way not commonly
provided for this user population. In addition, very little information
regarding training progression is generally provided to parents of children
with cerebral palsy. Gloob Rescue allows for game-based training, with
quantitative biomechanical information (range of motion, strength) provided to
therapists and parents to track upper limb rehabilitation progress.
Tested in partnership with the Conductive Education Center of Orlando
(CECO) – a specialty school which provides CP rehabilitation and training in a
group setting - use of the game resulted in improvements in upper limb
function, strength, and range of motion.