Proposal

=** DUE JANUARY 29, 2010 **=

**__ Proposal Report __** We are trying to solve a frustrating process that people go through when they feel progress is not quickly evident. This application looks to motivate people with any mobility disability, as well as create an experience for them in a world where they are able to move at their own pace without restrictions or barriers. This will help them motivate themselves and find the ability to work towards progress in real life. Many who are disabled become unmotivated after a couple of appointments of physiotherapy because they are not able to see instant results. Physiotherapy, according to The Canadian Physiotherapy Association, promotes wellness, mobility and independent function. They have a greater understanding of not only the movement of the body but also about what keeps it from moving well and how to restore mobility. People get tired of the same routine (which is supposed to help you in the long run) and do not do the follow-ups that are recommended. The users would be people with disabilities who are of all ages, although if you are minor, parental consent would be needed. Their characteristics would consist of immobility (movement impairment), specifically for those who are in wheel-chairs and immobilized from the waist down. Currently, there are no existing VR or AR concepts that tackle the problem, which is why the creation of this application is challenging. Our goal is to create an online virtual reality environment targeted towards people who are suffering from immobility problems, ranging from being in a wheelchair to being hospitalized permanently. They have the opportunity to socialize with others with similar problems as them and be a part of an environment that becomes enriching and motivational. Users will create their own avatars which will be used in the VR environment. He/she can partake in different activities (sporting, gaming, socializing, etc) depending on how extreme the person’s immobility is. For example, if he/she suffers from severe disability, he/she would not be recommended to try mountain climbing. These activities will act as levels, where level 1 may consist of cycling and level 10 may be mountain climbing. Every time the person completes the level, he will be able to go on to the next level. Our idea is unique because it hopes to immerse people who are immobile into a world where they can escape. In this setting they are able to be active in whichever way they choose. It could be to travel to a different country to experience the culture or to join a sports team. First, we plan to seek people who are challenged by mobility in everyday life and receive insight and ideas as to what type of world would be effective to escape into. Smaller designs can be built to improve feedback and implement any necessary change, ultimately improving our design. Having to develop new technologies will push the design further down the road, therefore for this design, we will be using current technologies. This design will primarily use a compatible computer, either a PC or a Mac system. The screens are placed in a 360 degree manner to give the effect of being surrounded by the actual virtual world. It will be more effective if the user had a high bandwidth internet connection. A webcam, microphone and speakers are essential as they are important for a virtual reality environment. As a result, by creating this virtual world setting, we hope to give a sense of freedom and escapement for anyone facing immobility. By being able to communicate with others facing the same disability, it gives them hope and a different type of motivation. The best outcome would ideally be to give hope and optimism to anyone in which they can apply this new found hope in real life.
 * 1. **** What is the application problem you are trying to solve? **
 * 2. **** What evidence is there that this is a problem? **
 * 3. **** Who are the users; what are their characteristics? **
 * 4. **** What existing VR or AR concepts, tackling your problem or application, are described in the literature? **
 * 5. **** What sort of VR/AR concept is your team trying to create? **
 * 6. **** What is unique about your concept compared to existing implementations? **
 * 7. **** How might you go about prototyping and evaluating your design? What technologies would you need? **
 * 8. **** What is the expected outcome of your team project and what are the anticipated benefits of the resulting solution of the problem if it were implemented? **