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Request for Participation
Information for people interested in participating in research with PRIME-VR2
This page is to provide additional information to potential UK research participants interested in being involved in the PRIME-VR2 project to create accessible virtual reality games and controllers for people with hyperkinetic movement disorders such as dystonia.
Click below to download a .zip file with all the information sheets for the study. Alternatively you can download each sheet separately at the bottom of the webpage
Study overview
At University College London and the Global Disability Innovation Hub, we are working on the first part of this project to create virtual reality controllers that can be used by people with hyperkinetic movement disorders (like dystonia). These controllers will control the user’s interactions in a virtual reality game.
It is important that we start with the right foundation for the design of the controllers, so we want to work with people with dystonia to understand your thoughts on virtual reality and what kinds of environments would be useful for developing improved functioning. We also need to take some measurements to help us design the physical aspects of the controller, such as its shape and how you interact with it. For example, should it have buttons? How firm should they be?
We aim to capture everything we need in two sessions. The first will be a remote session that will take place over Microsoft teams software, and the second will take place once face to face contact is possible in our lab. During the sessions, we will have a variety of activities and breaks when needed. The activities are:
1. Remote session
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An interview:
- what are your priorities and activities
– what do you do and how?
- What activities are important to you? Why?
- How does your movement disorder affect them? -
Recording movement data via webcam:
– Recording data to analyse your movement while you perform a simple task.
2. Face to face session
-
Measurement: Measured with simple force meters, photographs and measuring tools.
- how strong is your grip?
- How long are your fingers? -
Interactions with controller models:
– How do you intuitively interact with different shaped controllers? We are interested in observing how you interact with different shapes that could be used for the controllers. They won't be functional, but we would like to see how you handle them if you are pretending to use them to play a game. -
3D scanning of your arm with a handheld 3D scanner
For more detailed information on the activities the participants will perform during the study available to download at the bottom of the page.
Personas
Once we have the data, it will be compiled into a persona - a composite of the measurements and information we gain from our participants, described as an imaginary person. Which will be sent to the design team to inform future design choices.
To be included in the project, you should meet all the following inclusion criteria:
- Be an adult (age 18y or older)
- You have indicated that you have a hyperkinetic movement disorder, such as dystonic cerebral palsy, that affects the movement of one or both of your arms or hands;
- Be able to communicate your preferences and opinions to an interviewer in English (with communication assistance provided by your personal assistant or communication aid if necessary)
- Live within about 1.5 hours travel time of UCL Bloomsbury or UCL Here East;
- Be able to understand this information sheet;
- Be able to give clear informed consent for your participation in the study by signing the consent form or by an observed verbal or physical indication which will be recorded on the consent form and witnessed by two members of the research team.
You should not meet any of the following exclusion criteria:
- Be under age 18y;
- Be currently about to receive or have recently received surgery for your arms or hands;
There will be further opportunities for participating in the project for three years after this initial stage, including testing prototype VR controllers and games. We want to find out what works, and we need you to tell and show us.
If you are interested, and to find out more, please contact Richard Armstrong-Wood or Dr Tim Adlam at the UCL Global Disability Innovation Hub (part of the Computer Science department).
Sessions will be held online using UCL approved Microsoft Teams. We will pay £20 per person for the remote session work and a further £10 person for the face to face session to compensate you for your time. The full amount will be paid even in the event of early withdrawal.
Email: | Main Researcher
Email: | Mobile: 07547 676 555 | Principal Investigator
https://prime-vr2.eu
http://www.disabilityinnovation.com