Alpha: 2016
Platform: PC Steam
Description:
VR prototype game made in 3 months with a team of three. Our team was personally given an HTC Vive-Pre before launch to work on a proof of concept. The concept was to provide better physical therapy, by providing longer and thus more effective sessions through fun interactions. I picked up some queues on physical therapy through my mother; a Physical Therapy Teacher.
Contributions:
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Game Design
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Rigging
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Animation
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Sound design
Goal:
To provide better physical therapy, by providing longer and thus more effective sessions through fun interactions. We wanted to provide a service for a variety of patients that would go in for physical therapy.
Mascot:
Daruma is a traditional wishing doll used for setting goals. The tradition is you paint one eye and leave it incomplete until you finish your goal. Which was a perfect role model for getting people motivated to exercise?
Physician Controlled Environment:
There is so much value in having the ability to manipulate the environment as a game designer. With minimal training, a physician could create a paced and personalized experience for a patient. This would be vital in handling cases of severe impairment. Patients are to catch an object and put it in the blue box!
To show this a little, we have a physician use a controller to move a cannon side to side. They can then fire a cannon at any time! Forcing the player to dodge which is a good movement exercise on its own.
Foot Tracking:
This was before the invention of the Vive independent trackers. So we used a custom made strap that mounted to the top of the shin. It was a good exploration in physical therapy because not all patients would have the use of their arms. We wanted to provide a wide variety of options.
Balance:
Patients would use their head to knock a beach ball up and break coconuts with their heads. This is a simple case but requires some fall prevention. People seemed to love this for its absurdity.
Awards:
Games for health most popular at show 2016
Even ended up in their promo video. https://youtu.be/G_fvSFl7pP0
