Accessible Gaming Wearables: Opportunities for Players with Upper Limb Motor Disabilities

Abstract

There has been increased interest in how wearables can offer new avenues of interaction in video games. However, understanding how wearable devices can support accessible gaming is missing. My research aims to explore this potential with users with upper limb motor disabilities to understand their experiences with video games and wearable devices. My thesis is divided into two parts. Firstly, I interviewed gamers with upper limb motor disabilities to understand their lived experiences in playing video games and using wearable technology. Secondly, I explored the design space of accessible gaming wearables using participatory design fiction sessions to envision the future of wearable technology and accessible video games. My study also offers methodological contributions to the HCI community by demonstrating how dialogic/performance analysis can be applied to participatory design fiction research.Though narrative inquiry is often used in HCI, specifically using the method of dialogic/performance analysis to analyze narrative inquiry data is less often used. This research provides a detailed example of how this analysis method can be utilized in HCI research.