
Image by Ravenelle under a Attribution 2.0 License
Image: Torley Linden is a well-known Second Life resident with Asperger’s Syndrome. Here he’s speaking in Second Life at the Bounce for Autism event in 2008.
Last night I went to an event that combines several of my interests: gaming and virtual worlds with teaching and accessibility. The new Animation and Games Development Specialist Group of the British Computing Society was holding a talk in London with four speakers on the topic of virtual world and gaming for health professionals. Of particular interest were the following two talks:
Nigel Newbutt will present a brief overview of assistive technologies: virtual environments for people with autism. This will include an analysis of VEs that have been developed with the specific aim for users with autism. Within this talk a very brief overview of what autism is will be presented, and some of the advantages and issues that surround the development and use of VEs for users with autism.
Mick Donegan will present on the use of computer technology for people with ‘locked in syndrome’. This will include an overview of assistive technology for people with communication difficulties and how existing and new technologies can help people with physical disabilities.
Unfortunately, two of the four planned speakers were not there, including Mick Donegan. Emmanuel Pourreuix, one of my current H810 students attended. He recorded the session with the permission of the presenters, so a transcript might be available at a later date.





Posts