Playing Inside and Outside by Silvia Colombini Playing for fun, to learn, to grow; gaining independence through play. |
From the backyards where we played hide and seek or blind
man's bluff to the homes where we are chased throughout space or
underneath the deep sea through a screen. There was a time streets were the favourite battlefield of
generations of kids who grew up without danger while parents looked on,
today cities have become more perilous in a way and we prefer that our
kids stay inside where, thanks to the TV or computer screen, they
have access to rich virtual worlds full of adventures. For blind children,
used for a long time to contained independence, the introduction of these
games on the computer or other consoles available on the market has opened
new horizons. |
The graphics and
sound effects are getting more and more sophisticated, exciting stories
are making this video game experience so intense that to define it as
virtual is reductive. Sometimes, the fantasy worlds and game modalities
are so enthralling and complete that they represent a reality truer than
the actual reality, but unfortunately the greater part of these last
generation games are based on vision, making them inaccessible to children
who have a visual disability. Among the first ones to intercede in this
regard was the Personal Computer Systems, a company that began changing
the situation by introducing a series of video games that, based on texts
and sounds, have allowed young visually impaired kids to enjoy themselves.
Of course, initially the versions of the more popular games adapted to the
needs of those living with vision loss were more static than the original
ones; here too technology development has provided considerable
opportunities. From games in text modality using screen reader software, a
program reading text on the screen through voice synthesis, to more recent
versions of a space battleship (instead of ships, you have your
spacecrafts) that, playing while connected to a chatline, allows you to
interact with others, the new technology opportunities and the new market
proposals make video and audio games today instruments of great value for
what they can offer children. You only need to visit the Web site
www.gamesfortheblind.com to realize this: there are numerous games
offered, ranging from pure entertainment to educational games.
Incidentally, the focus on greater Web accessibility for all these people
whose independence is jeopardized because of a disability has been and
still is the strength of the Internet, driving force of freedom and
democracy, an instrument that has revolutionized our everyday lives; there
will be yet so much changes in the future for the so-called digital
newborns growing up with the mouse as a prolongation of the hand, with
MP3s, cell phones and computers. |
Those young people who have never gotten up to change the channel on tv, who have never written and mailed a letter, who don't know the yellow pages or encyclopedias. To those who see more or less, new generation games are essential tools for growth, socialization and development in general, even physical. This project was first introduced this year at the University of Nevada for a game called VI Fit that, using the now famous technologies of the Nintendo Wii consoles, applied to sports, allow visually impaired children to play tennis and bowling thanks to more audio and vibrotactile functionalities that, transmitted in the remote, indicate when the objective is reached (for more information: www.vifit.org). Playing remains one of man's most beautiful activities. Big or small, blind or sighted, we are all united by the pleasure provided by games, freeing us from the anguish and preoccupations in our lives, governed by chance and rules like any game, able, as Tolstoy said, to reveal a person's true character, and maybe to make us winners even if it is only a game. |