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 here 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.

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Study overview

Dystonia UK has been working with University College London and the Global Disability Innovation Hub to support their research project ‘Prime-VR2’. They 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 they start with the right foundation for the design of the controllers, so they 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. They also need to take some measurements to help 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?

They aim to capture everything they 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 their lab. During the sessions, they will have a variety of activities and breaks when needed. The activities are:

1. Remote session

• 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? The researchers are interested in observing how you interact with different shapes that could be used for the controllers. The controllers won't be functional, but they 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, see the 'Study Activities PDF' available to download at the bottom of the page.

Personas

Once the researchers have the data, it will be compiled into a persona - a composite of the measurements and information they gain from their participants, described as an imaginary person. These personas will be sent to the design team to inform future design choices.

Inclusion Critera

To be included in the project, you should meet all the following inclusion criteria:

• Be an adult (age 18 years 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.

Exclusion Critera

You should not meet any of the following exclusion criteria:

• Be under age 18 years old;
• 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. The research team want to find out what works, and they need you to tell and show them.

If you are interested, and to find out more, please contact 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. They 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: [email protected] | Main Researcher

Email: [email protected] | Mobile: 07547 676 555 | Principal Investigator

Information sheet

Study Activities PDF

Consent form

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http://prime-vr2.eu

http://www.disabilityinnovation.com