Wednesday, April 28, 2010

“Cornerstone University students create games for education, classroom festival” plus 2 more

“Cornerstone University students create games for education, classroom festival” plus 2 more

Cornerstone University students create games for education, classroom festival

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 06:10 AM PDT

By Tim Devaney | The Grand Rapids Press

April 28, 2010, 8:41AM

GR0429 Cornerstone Games.jpgEmily Zoladz | The Grand Rapids PressCornerstone University freshmen Nicole Ybema, center, and Tahni Bruno work on Spanish and English vocabulary cards for a game they are creating similar to "Go Fish" with their group for a Creativity Innovation and Problem Solving class. The purpose of the game is to help children learn Spanish by matching English and Spanish translations together in pairs.GRAND RAPIDS -- As a child, Don Perini created card games to play with his friends. Now Cornerstone University professor is teaching students the traits that help him sell games worldwide.

Students in his creativity class spent last week building their own games, and this week the games are on display during a classroom festival.

"Games are a great way for kids to develop their brains," Perini said.

In past semesters, students have developed dance games, search engine games, and even a game for elementary students with special needs.

This time around one of the more popular games -- Wacky Words -- is a remix of Scrabble. But rather than letters that spell words, students are given words that form sentences.

"It's cool that we have something we can be proud of," said Alicia VanDyke, a freshman who helped develop the game.

The creativity process involves four steps: observing, brainstorming, prototyping, and carrying out ideas.

Students start by searching online and visiting stores to play games. Those experiences turn into hundreds of ideas about a new game rules, settings, and story lines. And after developing a prototype, students test a game and mold it into the final product.

But making it big in the game industry is no small task.

"No one will just take an idea and go with it," Perini said. "You've got to do the grunt work."

Designers create hundreds of prototypes and sell them at game conventions to show companies they have potential.

One of the notable games Perini has designed resembles Mafia, a popular party game. Based in 1955, with senators and communists battling, "I Am Not A Communist" is quicker than Mafia and players are never eliminated.

Perini's company, Game Addicts, designs games and pitches them to worldwide companies. Some of his games are sold online at sites such as funagain.com and boardsandbits.com. He expects to release four more in June.

When he's not designing, Perini enjoys playing games. He has a collection of about 100, and prefers European games.

"Most American games are luck-based," he said. "It's about rolling your dice and moving your mice. But in some of the European games there's elements of social interaction, strategy and luck."

His favorite? "The one I'm playing," he said. "It changes, because I'll get in a game and that's my favorite game for a while."

But he's clear about the one he likes least.

"Friends don't let friends play Monopoly," he said.

After this week, Perini will have a new selection of games to love and hate.

"Creativity is a process," he added. And "most good games have a story behind them."

E-mail the author of this story: localnews@grpress.com

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Villa boss O’Neill: I will tell fans kids will play in opening Euro rounds

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 05:43 AM PDT

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill will play the kids if they must compete in Europa League qualifiers this summer.

Villa are on course for qualifying for another Europa League campaign this season.

Fulham have played 57 games already in all competitions this season and O'Neill said: "That is fantastic. I know Roy Hodgson was concerned that the longer Fulham went in Europe it might affect their league form.

"But they have achieved their aspirations in the league and have been able to concentrate on Europe the past couple of rounds.

"I will make it clear to the Aston Villa fans what we will do if we are in the Europa League.

"Had we qualified and got to the group stage this season, I would not have thrown games away, but I would've blooded the youngsters.

"The likes of Ciaran Clark, Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso would've been given a chance so that, come this stage of the season, you'd know precisely what they're capable of.

"That experience might come in really handy in the run-up in the Premier League. That's the theory. In practice there might be a Europa League game so important that you might have to go with your senior players.

"This is my thought process and, if we're in the Europa League next season, that is what we will do. If we're in the Champions League then try telling Richard Dunne, who has fought so hard to get this far, that he's not playing."

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3-D 'occupational therapy' for children: Virtual muscle machine for kids with disabilities

Posted: 27 Apr 2010 10:16 PM PDT

ScienceDaily (Apr. 27, 2010) — It was her love of ballet that led her to work with children who have motor disabilities. The retired dancer, now an occupational therapist, is pioneering a new "virtual" method to analyze movement patterns in children ― and more effectively treat those with debilitating motor disorders.

Dr. Dido Green of Tel Aviv University's Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health Professionals is using a "virtual tabletop" called the ELEMENTS SYSTEM, developed by her partners at Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, to "move" kids with disabilities and provide home-based treatments using virtual reality tools. Combining new three-dimensional exercises with two-dimensional graphical movement games already programmed into the tabletop (which resembles an early video game), she reports not only success but also enthusiasm among her young patients.

"I've been working with children with movement disorders for the last 20 years," says Dr. Green. "By the time I meet these children, they're sick of us. They've been 'over-therapied,' and it's difficult to get them to practice their exercises and prescribed treatment regimes."

Fun for kids from three to fifteen

"The virtual tabletop appealed to children as young as three and as old as 15," Dr. Green reports. "The movement-oriented games allowed them to 'make music' and reach targets in ways that are normally neither comfortable nor fun in the therapeutic setting," she explains.

Dr. Green determined that children with partial paralysis and motor dysfunction resulting from disorders such as cerebral palsy may be helped by giving them a new interface to explore. Building upon earlier research she conducted at the Evelina Children's Hospital in London, Dr. Green found that virtual reality applications enhance the skill sets learned by her patients.

Coupled with new technology involving 3D Movement Analysis, a technique she is now integrating into research at Tel Aviv University, Dr. Green hopes to develop this virtual tabletop-type game into new and effective therapy treatment regimes.

"Traditional approaches are labor-intensive and their results limited," Dr. Green says. "Our research aims to create a complete system for therapist, parent and child. It could bring daily treatments into the home and provides therapists with a complete solution to track and analyze improvements or setbacks in the most accurate way to date."

From the virtual to the real world

In children who attended sessions with her interface for three days a week over a period of about one month, Dr. Green found some impressive results. One child with a paralyzed hand was able to perform more complicated movements, culminating in a "eureka!" moment when she opened a door for the first time in her life. The girl was also able to gain control over some motor movements essential for basic life tasks, such as buttoning sweaters, opening doors, or going to the washroom. These are skills some children never develop with current therapy regimes.

In the near future, Dr. Green hopes to develop the technique for remote rehabilitation, enabling children to practice movements at home with parental supervision. Therapists located elsewhere could "log in" with a webcam and computer to coach the students or monitor their progress.

The researcher also plans to analyze brain function using trans-cranial magnetic brain stimulation. Currently, brain function relating to motor activities is analyzed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But many children are too impatient to sit in an MRI machine, so clinicians need a more accurate means of analyzing movement in children with disabilities to develop individualized therapy regimes.

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by American Friends of Tel Aviv University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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