2 Project Proposal Copy

8/6/2019 2 Project Proposal Copy

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Step Around the World © 2011 Ryan Fanelli and Mauli Ryan

Step Around the Worldanexer-game for

fall prevention and rehabilitation

By:Ryan Fanelli and Mauli Ryan

Proposed to: Stuart Smith, Neuroscience Research

Australia

Synopsis

µStep Around the World¶ is an exer-game,designed for older people, that

incorporates mental challenges to stimulate player interest in exercising to

prevent falls and rehabilitate from them. The aim of the exer-game is to

improve older people¶s balance recovery and fast stepping behavior through

lunging exercises that are thematically integrated into the travel-based gamewhere players uncover and attempt to identify parts of scenic photos.

Individuals that work to promote the health of the elderly will be interested

in the development of this game, and older people who are worried about

being susceptible to falls are the target audience of the game itself.



2 Step Around the World

Medical Summary

The game is designed to train older people to complete fast stepping

sequences which will improve the likelihood that they can recover from a potential fall by being able to take a response step quickly before the fall

happens.

The use of lunging exercises in the game will help player¶s balance recovery

skills and work to develop muscles that are not being targeted with already

existing short-stepping exer-games in development.

One critical attribute of the game is incorporating a measure of performance

(a scoring system) that players can use to track their progress in completingthe assigned exercises. Additionally, researches and practitioners can use

more precise data recorded from the user, like following their exact

movements when the succeed or fail at completing an assigned lunge, to

better identify patients that are most likely to fall and understand what

physical response characteristics make people most susceptible to falls.

Thematic Summary

We wanted to unite all of the elements of our game into a common theme

that our target audience appreciates and that is not already used as a theme

for other exer-games designed for older people. All of the interview subjects

that we spoke with agreed that travel is one of their interests, and they would

enjoy viewing scenic photography when playing anexer-game.

In this game, players will lunge forward to step on and collect money icons,

which move across the screen towards the players¶ feet. Upon stepping on

the icons, tiles of the hidden picture are uncovered and the player¶s score

increases. However, players must also move their feet to avoid bad icons,

which will have a negative effect on their score.

The game also includes mental activities like identifying the hidden picture

or answering travel-related questions, which will have a positive effect on

the player¶s score, as well.



© 2011 Ryan Fanelli and Mauli Ryan 3

Game Description

Main Screen

The game opens with a main menu screen. Players¶ feet are outfitted with

infrared LEDs that the Wii can recognize to identify where their feet are

located, and then project the location of their feet on the screen. Menu

options are selected when players move their feet in view of the Wii Camera

onto a menu selection button.

Background ResearchProspective players (the subjects that we interviewed) expressed their

interest in being able to view their high scores, to see how their skills

progress, making the scoring section of the game an important inclusion.

They explained that being able to compete against their previous scores to

try to improve is one of the primary motivations for frequently playing exer-

games. Also, interview subjects were particularly interested in seeing their

feet displayed on the game screen so that they do not have to shift their focus

between looking up at the screen and looking down at their feet (such as on a

dance mat).




Menu ScreeniThe game will offer both single

player and multiplayer game modes,

where players can compete on their

own or simultaneously with another player.

Background Research

Interview subjects strongly favored

the idea of competing against others,citing it as another primary

motivation for playing exer-games.

Menu Screen iiPlayers choose one of two differentgame modes in which to play.

In µTimed Levels¶, players will spend

a set amount of time lunging to reveal

ahidden image. Then, at the end of the allotted time, players can guess

the pictureto earn extra points before

moving to another picture.

In µComplete the Picture¶, players will continue to uncover tiles of a particular background image until every tile of the puzzle is revealed, and the picture isentirely visible. Only upon completion, players can start on a new image.

Background Research

One test subject in particular explained how he is interested in unveiling everytile of a picture, even if he recognizes what the picture is already, since he is

motivated by completing tasks in their entirety. As such, players have the

option of completing the entire picture, or including the additional mentallystimulating challenge of guessing a partially revealed picture in the timed

mode.




Menu Screen iiiPlayers select the difficulty level of

their game when they begin. In single

player mode, the game system will

keep track of a player¶s currentdifficulty level and display it on the

screen. Then, upon the players¶ skillsimproving, the game will advise the

player to increase the difficulty,

continuing to challenge and improvetheir abilities. In multiplayer mode,

this functionality of letting users select their difficulty level will allow players

the opportunity to compete against one another even if they have differentlevels of skill.

Background ResearchInterview subjects expressed interest in having competition between individuals

of different skill levels, so that the game can include handicaps to be especially

challenging for players that enter with a higher skill level, making the

competition fairer. This encourages competition among groups and providesolder people an opportunity to play games with their grandchildren. They also

like the game to continue to get more challenging as their skills improve.

Menu Screen ivSince the length that someone canlunge will vary from person to

person, we calibrate the stepping

distance each time a user begins

playing the game. The game willrecognize the player¶s stepping length

and adjust the distances of

programmed steps to fit each particular player.

Background ResearchStudies in rehabilitative exercise done by employees at Neuroscience Research

Australia indicate that depending on the specific patient and their flexibility, the

distance a person lungescan have a wide range of variation. As a result, we can

cater the game to individuals based on their specific lunging abilities.




Game View

The dashboard at the

bottom of the screen

shows the number of countries visited

(same as the number

of photos viewed),

amount of time the

user has been on a

level, their score, and

the difficulty

assigned to the

player.

Icons enter the game view from either the left or the right, approaching the

player¶s left or right foot, which are shown on the screen. The player lunges

to step on or evade the icons as they approach the middle section of the

screen. Three different game bit icons enter the screen view:

Positive Icon, plays a pleasant noise if collected

When players step on this symbol, they uncover a tile from the

hidden picture and earn money, increasing their score.

Negative Icon, plays an unpleasant noise if collectedWhen players step on this symbol, they will lose money, bringing

their score down.

Bonus Icon, plays noise signifying bonus round if collected

When players step on this symbol, they will be asked a bonus

travel trivia question to increase their score if answered correctly.

Background Research

Interview subjects liked the idea of having both positive and negative objects

in the game. Subjects thought that the added element would cause them tothink and respond, making the activity less tedious. Similarly, they think that

having trivia questions and hidden picturespromote using their brain, thus

distracting them from the leg movements, making it easier to perform the

activity. Subjects also provided feedback regarding potential scenic photos

they liked as well as which of a group of icons they identified as being most

positive or negative.




Player Motivation

Costello and Edmonds (2005) µA Tool for Characterizing the Experience of

Play¶ define key player pleasures that are identified within the game µStepAround the World¶. The element of µdiscovery¶ is best illustrated by actively

gaining coins to reveal a piece of the picture that is displayed on the screen. To

deepen the discovery element a sound is emitted every time the user progressesthrough the game and reveals tiles of the picture, a form of positive feedback.

µDifficulty¶ is also a player pleasure that is relevant to the game aesthetics of µStep Around the World¶. Essentially, the goal for users is to measure their

performance and progress up the gaming difficulty levels. The difficulty is

associated with increasing speed of steps, a greater presence of negative icons,

and more challenging trivia questions.

µCompetition¶ was an important element when doing our initial research. Anoverall view between subjects interviewed revealed a liking to goals being

defined and rewarded. In this context, goals are defined as completing the level,

physically gaining points to reveal all the tiles or by guessing what country the picture was from. The multi-player aspect of the game also struck a chord with

the majority of the subjects. Essentially, if a competitive element like multi

players could be added to the game, the more likely the user would be driven to play. This would not only facilitate in social engagement but also give the

player a sense of achievement or willingness to play again.

µThe lens of surprise¶ (Kaufmann, 2008), is illustrated firstly by once again thetiles of the picture being revealed as the player progresses. Secondly, the

element of surprise is displayed with bonus icons travelling across the screen

simultaneously with negative and positive icons. If the player steps on the

bonus icon this gives the player a chance to gain points by answering a travel

related question. These trivia questions are different each time and become

more challenging as the difficulty increases. The reward and punishment

system associated with the game bits is designed to make the player experiencemore satisfying. By integrating the hidden picture with the player¶s score and

physical movements, all associated with the travel theme, players are morelikely to enjoy the exer-game, thus playing it frequently and benefiting their

health.




Technological Details

Setup

The player starts by attaching a bundle of infrared lights to the toes of their

shoes. The bundle of LEDs is setup so that lights will be pointed at many

different angles, to improve the N intendoWii Camera¶s ability to identify the player¶s foot.

Next, the player situates a Wii Camera aimed at their feet. (Note: using twocameras setup orthogonal to one another is a potential future advancement that

could improve the accuracy of the Wii¶s readings.) The Wii Camera will

transmit information about the positions of the LEDs to theWii

.

The Wii is connected to a computer via USB, and using the Osculator software

on the computer, the data about the LEDs location is converted to numerical x-

y-z coordinates in space for the game software to use.

The computer is connected to a screen in front of the player, so that they canview the game display on the screen in front of them (including a projection of

where their feet are located on the game display). When players step outside of

the area where their feet are supposed to be positioned during play, the screen

border flashes and a voice instruction plays to the user to indicate that theystepped out of bounds and must return their feet to the appropriate zone.

Background Research

Based on the experience of game designers at Neuroscience Research

Australia, using multiple LEDs arranged at different angles or using multiple

cameras arranged orthogonally help improve the reliability of the sensor readings to generate more accurate data about the players when used with the

Wii Camera.

Also, the interview subjects like the idea of being alerted when they are not

standing where they are supposed to, since, in other games, they often

inadvertently shift their feet away from the position where they are supposed to be without realizing it, and end up being penalized for it in their score.Having

the player¶s feet displayed on the screen helps to resolve this issue.




Medical Details

Saving Data

The game system records the player¶s progress as they use the single player

mode in the game, to track the development of their physical abilities.

Since the player¶s foot position is stored as x-y-z coordinates, the game

system will be able to save those coordinates sampled at pre-determined

times, so as to recreate the player¶s stance throughout the game.

These coordinates about the player will be recorded along with the x-y-z

coordinates of the coins and robbers moving across the screen, so that thesomeone reading the data can observe how quickly the player responds to

movement of the on-screen objects.

Background Research

The game system¶s ability to save data is specifically included so that the

player, the game developer or a general practitioner can observe trends in the

player¶s progress in the game¶s exercises.

Additionally, reading the recorded data can assist with learning about what

errors a user makes as they are playing the game which should help a

practitioner to identify which skills need improvement for which people, or

which traits are most indicative of fall risk.




Development Timeline

Task Name Duration Start Finish

MDIA3001 Step Around the World 105 days Mon 7/03/11 Thu 28/07/11

1 DISCOVERY 15 days Mon 11/04/11 Tue 3/05/11

1.1 Idea Development2.63

daysMon 4/04/11 Wed 6/04/11

1.1.1 Themes 1hr Mon 11/04/11 Mon 11/04/11

1.1.2 Goals 1hr Mon 11/04/11 Mon 11/04/11

1.1.3 Motives 1hr Mon 11/04/11 Mon 11/04/11

1.1.4 Mechanics 1hr Mon 11/04/11 Mon 11/04/11

1.1.5 Dynamics 1hr Mon 11/04/11 Mon 11/04/11

1.1.6 Player Pleasures 1hr Mon 11/04/11 Mon 11/04/11

1.2 Research 37 days Tue 12/04/11 Tue 31/05/11

1.2.1 Interview target demographic with key

ideas24 hrs Tue 12/04/11 Thu 14/04/11

1.2.2 Collate data 2 days Tue 12/04/11 Wed 13/04/111.2.3 Review game idea 1 day Tue 12/04/11 Tue 12/04/11

1.3 Review & Develop0.06

daysWed 27/04/11 Wed 27/04/11

1.3.1 Review game idea 1 day Wed 27/04/11 Wed 27/04/11

1.3.2 Test symbolic recognition of icons, photos 1 day Wed 27/04/11 Wed 27/04/11

1.3.3 Write Project proposal outline 2 days Wed 27/04/11 Thu 28/04/11

1.3.4 Debrief- project proposal 1 day Wed 27/04/11 Wed 27/04/11

1.3.5 Amendments to project proposal 1 day Wed 27/04/11 Wed 27/04/11

1.3.6 Proposal complete 0 days Tue 3/05/11 Tue 3/05/11

2 TESTING 4 days Thu 5/05/11 Mon 9/05/11

2.1 Game design on target demographic 1 day Thu 5/05/11 Thu 5/05/11

2.2 Game design on younger demographic 1 day Fri 6/05/11 Fri 6/05/11

2.3 Design of icon and backdrops 1 day Sat 7/05/11 Mon 9/05/11

2.4 Design of overall game 4 days Thu 12/05/11 Tue 17/05/11

2.5 Testing of stepping exercise 2 days Mon 16/05/11 Tue 17/05/11

2.6 Testing of Wii 3 days Tue 24/05/11 Thu 26/05/11

2.7 Review of User interactivity 1 day Fri 27/05/11 Fri 27/05/11

3 DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY 61 days Mon 9/05/11 Thu 28/07/11

3.1 Design of icons 0.5 days Tue 17/05/11 Tue 17/05/11

3.2 Design of game layout 1 day Tue 17/05/11 Tue 17/05/11

3.3 Review of design 0.5 days Tue 24/05/11 Tue 24/05/11

3.4 Amendments 0.5 days Wed 25/05/11 Wed 25/05/11

3.5 Testing of design and technology 1 day Wed 25/05/11 Thu 26/05/113.6 Development of technology 1 day Fri 27/05/11 Fri 27/05/11

3.7 Review of technology (Wii) 1 day Sat 28/05/11 Sun 29/05/11

3.8 Amendments 1 day Sun 29/05/11 Mon 30/05/11

3.9 Project complete 0 days Tue 31/05/11 Tue 31/05/11

4 PROJECT MANAGEMENT 63 days Mon 7/03/11 Tue 31/05/11

4.1 Oversee of research 0.2 wks Mon 7/03/11 Mon 7/03/11

4.2 Oversee project development 1 day Mon 7/03/11 Mon 7/03/11

4.3 Oversee of design development 1 day Mon 7/03/11 Mon 7/03/11




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