Initial experience with virtual worlds for people with lifelong disability : preliminary findings

Abstract

Information and communication technologies (ICT), including Internet and a plethora of social networking applications, are an important for people with lifelong disability in their day to day life. Such technology offers possibilities and opportunities for this group of people to enjoy a range of new social interactions. Through the internet people with disability are able to meet and interact with other individuals who struggle with the same issues or meet people sharing their interests. Virtual worlds (VW) are the latest star on the social networking horizon. Virtual worlds offer an environment that can be more attentive and accommodating to the needs of individuals with impairments in that people with lifelong disability may be able to engage in activities without experiencing exclusion and discrimination based on their disability. Through this paper we will present the initial experiences of a group of people with lifelong disability engaging in activities in the virtual world Second Life. This research, sponsored by the Norwegian Research Council, aims to explore the affordances offered by virtual worlds to people with lifelong disability. We seek to discover if VW assist project participants to engage in meaningful activities and social interactions. This work in progress presents preliminary findings from the first five weeks of a group of people with disability experiencing Second Life. The preliminary findings show that the participants are experiencing challenges while engaging in activities in the virtual world, but with the help of teaching staff and the project team are experiencing benefits in terms of being able to engage in shared activities in the virtual setting. This paper presents our exploratory research method and initial findings. We conclude that these initial findings indicate that virtual worlds have benefits of for people with lifelong disability, such as enjoyment of activities and communicating through different features.

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