The Game
Circolino is a bundle of five serious games and home-made input devices to play games while performing a series of different physiotherapy exercises.
The Game
Circolino is a bundle of five serious games and home-made input devices to play games while performing a series of different physiotherapy exercises.
Helping children
This Serious Game was created for the Children's Rehabilitation Centre in Affoltern (Switzerland) and is designed for children under the age of 12 with motor problems.
Playing is something that people have always done.
Playing is a very important part of each of our lives.
Games are also part of our culture and it doesn't matter which one.
Unfortunately, not everyone can play video games.
There are people who have problems with motor functions and most of them are children.
Typically, physiotherapy involves helping children to develop their gross motor skills and physical independence.
Physiotherapists assess, design and carry out stimulating exercises for children to improve their physical skills, prevent further deformities and minimise the effects of disability.
Helping children
This Serious Game was created for the Children's Rehabilitation Centre in Affoltern (Switzerland) and is designed for children under the age of 12 with motor problems.
Playing is something that people have always done.
Playing is a very important part of each of our lives.
Games are also part of our culture and it doesn't matter which one.
Unfortunately, not everyone can play video games.
There are people who have problems with motor functions and most of them are children.
Typically, physiotherapy involves helping children to develop their gross motor skills and physical independence.
Physiotherapists assess, design and carry out stimulating exercises for children to improve their physical skills, prevent further deformities and minimise the effects of disability.
Therapy Progress
Every time the children play Circolino, the system logs very important information for the therapy and then saves it in a well-formatted CSV file, which can be used to analyse the progress of each individual patient.
Therapy Progress
Every time the children play Circolino, the system logs very important information for the therapy and then saves it in a well-formatted CSV file, which can be used to analyse the progress of each individual patient.
A gaming experience
My first step in creating this game was to work with a physiotherapist to analyse the different exercises these children do every day.
Then I collected all the important information and wrote the GDD (Game Design Document).
When I wrote it, I looked at every aspect of the game through the eyes of these children.
It wasn't as easy as you might think.
Most of these children have motor problems, not just because their muscles are not working well, but because their brains have some problems too.
I wanted to create mini-games that would help train the different parts of the brain, not just the muscles: they have to work together.
The input devices I built allow you to train your motor skills while playing these mini-games.
I've created something that has this 'Wii-style' thing that gives a completely different gaming experience than a normal keyboard or mouse.
Most of these kids can't hold a controller because they can't move it.
My aim was to create something that you could wear, that was not so heavy, that was easy to install and use.
To use these input devices, we just plug in the USB cable and we are ready to play: no extra drivers to install and compatible with most operating systems.
Last but not least, the kids love Circolino!
A gaming experience
My first step in creating this game was to work with a physiotherapist to analyse the different exercises these children do every day.
Then I collected all the important information and wrote the GDD (Game Design Document).
When I wrote it, I looked at every aspect of the game through the eyes of these children.
It wasn't as easy as you might think.
Most of these children have motor problems, not just because their muscles are not working well, but because their brains have some problems too.
I wanted to create mini-games that would help train the different parts of the brain, not just the muscles: they have to work together.
The input devices I built allow you to train your motor skills while playing these mini-games.
I've created something that has this 'Wii-style' thing that gives a completely different gaming experience than a normal keyboard or mouse.
Most of these kids can't hold a controller because they can't move it.
My aim was to create something that you could wear, that was not so heavy, that was easy to install and use.
To use these input devices, we just plug in the USB cable and we are ready to play: no extra drivers to install and compatible with most operating systems.
Last but not least, the kids love Circolino!
Natural Learning
Anatomically, the brain is not a muscle, but it does follow the same rules as muscles in that it atrophies when left to rest and continues to grow and strengthen the more it is exercised and supported by a healthy diet and sleep.
To keep it as fit as the rest of your body, you need to exercise it.
Brain training can be active and physical or passive and mental.
Circolino's mini-games train the parts of the brain involved in remembering, calculating, recognising, seeing and hearing: the parietal, frontal, temporal and occipital lobes.
Natural Learning
Anatomically, the brain is not a muscle, but it does follow the same rules as muscles in that it atrophies when left to rest and continues to grow and strengthen the more it is exercised and supported by a healthy diet and sleep.
To keep it as fit as the rest of your body, you need to exercise it.
Brain training can be active and physical or passive and mental.
Circolino's mini-games train the parts of the brain involved in remembering, calculating, recognising, seeing and hearing: the parietal, frontal, temporal and occipital lobes.
Motivation
I was excited to use my knowledge to create a game that focuses on a target audience that is not always considered in the games industry.
To make Circolino, I used Blender to create the game and the 3D assets (environment, characters and items), Python for the scripting, Gimp for the textures, Inkscape for the 2D game elements, Audacity for the sounds and music, and Scribus for the documentation.
Motivation
I was excited to use my knowledge to create a game that focuses on a target audience that is not always considered in the games industry.
To make Circolino, I used Blender to create the game and the 3D assets (environment, characters and items), Python for the scripting, Gimp for the textures, Inkscape for the 2D game elements, Audacity for the sounds and music, and Scribus for the documentation.
3D Characters
There are many characters in Circolino, each with a different behaviour.
All of them have been specially designed to help players understand that it's cool to be different.
3D Characters
There are many characters in Circolino, each with a different behaviour.
All of them have been specially designed to help players understand that it's cool to be different.
GALLERY
