The Research Experience for Teachers Program http://www.cs.appstate.edu/retActivity Title: “User Accessibility”

Introduction/Motivation:Physically challenged individuals are often not considered as part of the target audience during the development of a video game. By considering the needs of physically challenged individuals, students will have the opportunity to explore complex topics within human computer interaction and computer engineering during their exploration and testing of potential interface systems for other players.

Materials List: Makey Makey hardware Arduino IDE (stable 1.0.5-r2)

o With the Makey Makey drivers and source files already installed on the system Simple browser based video game:

o Frogger -> http://webgames.visionmind.net/play/frogger.htmlo Space Invaders -> http://webgames.visionmind.net/games/classic.htmlo Fruit Drop -> http://webgames.visionmind.net/play/fruit-drop.html

Figure 1 – List of Materials and Tools

Procedure:Background:You will work together in teams to develop the “best” method of allowed physically challenged individuals to play a game (create a new user interface to address accessibility issues). Be prepared to explore your assumptions about interface design and game play and think critically about them in order to discover potential solutions to the problem.

Preparation:You need to make sure that the Arduino IDE is installed on your team’s computer and that the Makey Makey is recognized within the software. For example, if you have the files saved under your Documents directory, you may have something like the two lines show below. However the files may have been saved in a different directory.

..\Documents\Arduino\hardware\MakeyMakey ..\Documents\ Arduino\hardware\makey_makey_1_4_1

Also, make sure that you have 6 wires with alligator clips and 6 wires with straight line ends.

Lab Activity:1. Before beginning work on your solution spend a few minutes playing the game as a team.

Watch the play methods of each team member and make sure that all members are aware of all the interface components that will be required by the game.

2. Develop a list of keys that are used in the game and will need to be changed to meet the needs of other players, this is the process of mapping keys.

3. Begin the interface design for an individual with control of only one hand.4. Launch the Arduino IDE software and select the Makey Makey as the current board.

5. Connect the Makey Makey to the computer and set up the Arduino to the appropriate serial port.

a. If you are not sure which port to select, take a note of the ports that are available. Unplug the Makey Makey from the USB port and recheck the available ports within the Arduino IDE. Note the ports that are available (or not available) when the Makey Makey is not installed. Reconnect the Makey Makey to the USB port on the computer and select the com port within the Arduino IDE that is new and therefore associated with the Makey Makey device.

6. Load the Makey Makey code and make any necessary changes to it to meet the needs of the game that you are exploring.

7. Click the check icon in the top left corner to verify your updated code. Once the verification is complete select the arrow icon to compile and upload your new code to the Makey Makey device.

8. Connect the interface elements to appropriate conductors.9. Test your design.10. Tweak your design based upon any bugs that are discovered.11. Return to step 4 and repeat for an individual with minimal to no control of both hands.

AssessmentPre-Assessment

Students should prepare to present their design to the rest of the class and address the following:1. How were the conductors placed for your interface design?2. Why did your team use the layout as presented?3. What issues were encountered during the testing of your design?4. What changes were made to the design based upon the discovered problems?

Results/ConclusionsStudents perform a one-page write up of their experience, addressing the following questions:1. Of the interfaces presented, which did you find the most effective and why?2. What, if any, further technologies would be needed to make the interface designs presented a

viable commercial product?3. How has this project changed your view of interface design and development?

Reference(s):Human Computer Interaction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human%E2%80%93computer_interactionGame Accessibility: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_accessibilityMaking Video Games Accessible: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ee415219%28v=vs.85%29.aspx