Project 02 In-Class Activity 


Overview

What is AAC?

Communication Boards

Task 01# Communication Boards

Gravity Sketch

Task 02# Gravity Sketch

Overview

In this simulation, we will look at some of the communication difficulties experienced by verbally impaired users. The activity will walk you through using communication boards in a real-life environment as well as gravity sketch in an immersive environment to share a story that could be told during a meal. From now on, please refrain from using speech for communication; Instead, feel free to use the communication boards to communicate basic needs, questions, and requests.  


This exercise is not meant to simulate experiences of disability. Simulations are imperfect especially when it comes to understanding disability. In addition, studies show mixed results on the impact of disability simulation on empathy; However, VR has the potential to provide empathetic, immersive, and iterative spaces. Think of this simulation as a communication experience to give you a sense of the challenges in predicting needed vocabulary.


Remember, DO NOT TALK, except via your communication board (and sketches in the virtual environment later on) 

What is AAC?

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) refers to interventions designed to compensate for an individual’s communication difficulty. For people who are unable to speak at all, AAC serves as an alternative to speech. More often, AAC is used to augment speech, as most are able to say at least a few words. 

Communication Boards

A communication board is a type of augmentative or alternative communication (AAC) device that allows nonverbal individuals to communicate with others. These devices can be handmade or digital programs that can be used in the home, at school, or in other settings. For this section, we will be using printouts of comprehensive communication boards developed by Proloquo2Go. 


Task 01# Communication Boards 

For the communication boards activity, #01s will have to think of a story and communicate it to #02s using the boards provided. #02s will have to share their understanding of the story; they can also use the communication boards to ask for more information/repetitions/clarifications …etc.  


Gravity Sketch

Gravity sketches provide an environment where designers can make 3D objects in a 3D space. In addition, it hosts a comprehensive network of cross-platform file sharing and modeling collaboration through its built-in cloud-based storage, Gravity Sketch Landing Pad. 


Ideally, Gravity Sketch would be used to design an interactive 3D communication board in the virtual environment; Instead, we will focus on visual representations of vocabulary in a collaborative virtual environment.  


Task 02# Gravity Sketch