Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Realistic Boccia Game Simulator Adapted for People with Disabilities or Motor Disorders: Architecture and Preliminary Usability Study

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Recent Advances in Information Systems and Technologies (WorldCIST 2017)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 571))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Over the last decades, Serious Games have gained increased importance, mainly due to the evolution and expansion of video games and its application in multiple areas. Integration in the world of sport is one of the solutions that individuals with disabilities or motor disorders develop to feel more socially integrated, more independent and confident with themselves. Boccia is a Paralympic sport that is increasingly getting more attention around the world. This has contributed for the objectives of this project since it attracts these patients a lot more easily and including it in the Serious Games category enables them to develop and rehabilitate their cognitive capabilities. It will allow the users being dynamic, holding their attention and motivating them instead of the traditional cognitive rehabilitation processes that quickly become repetitive and discouraging. This paper describes a realistic Boccia game simulator adapted for people with disabilities or motor disorders still on development that aims to integrate a set of features that include real physics, multimodal user interface and social features (diversion, rehabilitation, competition and improvement). These features can be used to enhance the interest of non-practitioners of the sport and to improve the training conditions of Boccia athletes. Results observed in an experiment with real Boccia game components indicate that the simulator offers great similarity to the reality with the maximum difference between the measures obtained in both being 10 cm.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: A methodology for creating an adapted command language for driving an intelligent wheelchair. J. Intell. Robot. Syst. 80(3–4), 609–623 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Rego, P., Moreira, P.M., Reis, L.P.: Serious games for rehabilitation: a survey and a classification towards a taxonomy. In: 5th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, vol. I, pp. 349–354 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Boccia International Sports Federation. Home (2016). http://www.bisfed.com/

  4. Burke, J.W., McNeill, M.D.J., Charles, D.K., Morrow, P.J., Crosbie, J.H., McDonough, S.M.: Optimising engagement for stroke rehabilitation using serious games, vol. 25, no. 12, pp. 1085–1099. The Visual Computer (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Barbosa, M.J.T.: Development of an intelligent wheelchair 3D simulator/visualizer. Master’s Degree (FEUP), Porto (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Inc. Epic Games. Unreal Engine 4 (2017). http://www.unrealengine.com/unreal-engine-4

  7. Oviatt, S.: User-centered modeling and evaluation of multimodal interfaces. Proc. IEEE 91(9), 1457–1468 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Michael, D.R., Chen, S.L.: Serious Games: Games that Educate, Train and Inform. Muska & Lipman/Premier-Trade, New York (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  9. CRE Discapacidad y Dependencia. Boccia virtual (2016). http://www.crediscapacidadydependencia.es/cresanandres_01/documentacion/bocciavirtual/index.htm

  10. Guedelha, H.A.F.: Boccia, o simulador. Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Lisboa (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Osório, B., Sá, B.: Versão final do Bocciasim. http://www.boccia-sim.blogspot.pt/

  12. Faria, B.M., Dias, D.F., Reis, L.P.: Multimodal interaction robotic devices in a simulated environment. In: 11th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies, Gran Canaria, Spain, vol. I, pp. 673–678 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Balaguer, B., Balakirsky, S., Carpin, S., Lewis, M., Scrapper, C.: Usarsim: a validated simulator for research in robotics and automation. In: Workshop on “Robot Simulators: Available Software, Scientific Applications and Future Trends (IEEE/RSJ) (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Coppelia Robotics. V-Rep: Virtual Robot Experimentation Platform (2016). http://www.coppeliarobotics.com/index.html

  15. Oviatt, S.: Multimodal interfaces. In: The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies and Emerging Applications, vol. 14, pp. 286–304 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Braga, R.A.M., Petry, M., Moreira, A.P., Reis, L.P.: Concept and design of the IntellWheels platform for developing intelligent wheelchairs. In: Cetto, J.A., Ferrier, J.L., Filipe, J. (eds.) Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol. 37, pp. 191–203. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: Cerebral palsy EEG signals classification: facial expressions and thoughts for driving an intelligent wheelchair. In: Proceedings - 12th IEEE International Conference on Data Mining WS, ICDMW, pp. 33–40 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Faria, B.M., Vasconcelos, S., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: A methodology for creating intelligent wheelchair users’ profiles. In: ICAART 2012 - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence, vol. 1, pp. 171–179 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Faria, B.M., Ferreira, L.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N., Petry, M.: Intelligent wheelchair manual control methods. In: Correia, L., Reis, L.P., Cascalho, J. (eds.) EPIA 2013. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 8154, pp. 271–282. Springer, Heidelberg (2013). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-40669-0_24

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  20. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: Manual, automatic and shared methods for controlling an intelligent wheelchair: adaptation to cerebral palsy users. In: Proceedings of the 2013 13th International Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems, ROBOTICA 2013, Art.No. 6623523 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N., Soares, J.C., Vasconcelos, S.: Patient classification and automatic configuration of an intelligent wheelchair. Comput. Inf. Sci. 358, 268–282 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Teixeira, S.C., Faias, J., Lau, N.: Intelligent wheelchair simulator for users’ training: Cerebral palsy children’s case study. In: Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Faria, B.M., Vasconcelos, S., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: Evaluation of distinct input methods of an intelligent wheelchair in simulated and real environments: a performance and usability study. Assist. Technol. 25(2), 88–98 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: Adapted control methods for cerebral palsy users of an intelligent wheelchair. J. Intell. Robot. Syst.: Theory Appl. 77(2), 299–312 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: A survey on intelligent wheelchair prototypes and simulators. Adv. Intell. Syst. Comput. 275(2), 545–557 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: User modeling and command language adapted for driving an intelligent wheelchair. In: 2014 IEEE International Conference on Autonomous Robot Systems and Competitions, ICARSC 2014, pp. 158–163 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Faria, B.M., Silva, A., Faias, J., Reis, L.P., Lau, N.: Intelligent wheelchair driving: a comparative study of cerebral palsy adults with distinct boccia experience. Adv. Intell. Syst. Comput. 276, 329–340 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Lau, N., Moreira, A.P., Petry, M., Ferreira, L.M.: Intelligent wheelchair driving: bridging the gap between virtual and real intelligent wheelchairs. In: Pereira, F., Machado, P., Costa, E., Cardoso, A. (eds.) EPIA 2015. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 9273, pp. 445–456. Springer, Cham (2015). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-23485-4_44

    Google Scholar 

  29. Reis, L.P., Faria, B.M., Vasconcelos, S., Lau, N.: Invited paper: multimodal interface for an intelligent wheelchair. In: Ferrier, J.-L., Gusikhin, O., Madani, K., Sasiadek, J. (eds.) Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics. LNEE, vol. 325, pp. 1–34. Springer, Cham (2015). doi:10.1007/978-3-319-10891-9_1

    Google Scholar 

  30. Rego, P.A., Moreira, P.M., Reis, L.P.: Natural user interfaces in serious games for rehabilitation. In: 6th International Conference on Information Systems and Technologies, pp. 1–4 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Rocha, R., Rego, P.A., Faria, B.M., Reis, L.P., Moreira, P.M.: A web platform of serious games for cognitive rehabilitation: architecture and usability study. In: Rocha, Á., Correia, A., Adeli, H., Reis, L., Mendonça Teixeira, M. (eds.) New Advances in Information Systems and Technologies. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 444, pp. 1085–1095. Springer, Cham (2011)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was partially funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the programme COMPETE by FCT (Portugal) in the scope of the project PEst -UID/CEC/00027/2015 and FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037281.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. FEUP – Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    José Diogo Ribeiro & A. Paulo Moreira

  2. ESS/PP – Higher School of Health, Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Brígida Mónica Faria

  3. LIACC – Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Laboratory, Porto, Portugal

    Brígida Mónica Faria & Luis Paulo Reis

  4. INESC TEC – INESC Technology and Science, Porto, Portugal

    Brígida Mónica Faria, A. Paulo Moreira & Luis Paulo Reis

  5. DSI-EEUM - Information Systems Department, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

    Luis Paulo Reis

Authors
  1. José Diogo Ribeiro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Brígida Mónica Faria
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Paulo Moreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Luis Paulo Reis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José Diogo Ribeiro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. DEI/FCT, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Baixo Mondego, Portugal

    Álvaro Rocha

  2. Nova IMS, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

    Ana Maria Correia

  3. College of Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Hojjat Adeli

  4. DSI/EEUM, Universidade do Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

    Luís Paulo Reis

  5. DIMES, Università della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy

    Sandra Costanzo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Cite this paper

Ribeiro, J.D., Faria, B.M., Paulo Moreira, A., Reis, L.P. (2017). Realistic Boccia Game Simulator Adapted for People with Disabilities or Motor Disorders: Architecture and Preliminary Usability Study. In: Rocha, Á., Correia, A., Adeli, H., Reis, L., Costanzo, S. (eds) Recent Advances in Information Systems and Technologies. WorldCIST 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 571. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56541-5_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56541-5_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56540-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56541-5

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation