ImmersiveTechHackathonfor Disabilitysupport 2 9 TH - 3 0 TH NOVEMBER 20 1 7 .

Building a solution for the

Future of disability sector

This year House with No Steps  hosted it's first ever

hackathon to explore how cutting edge immersive

technology can improve the support provided to

customers of disability services and develop the

capability of disability support workers, particularly by

focussing on how support workers are prepared to

respond to risk and safety in their roles.

The event brought together a broad range of

participants, from engineering, media, design, art or

education who were who were interested in creating a

social impact through immersive technology. The

session included speakers from the immersive

technology industry, academia, offering invaluable

insight into how to develop a solution to meet the

unique needs of education, healthcare and other

emerging sectors. 

The first day began with opening remarks by Selena Griffith, who is the senior lecturer for

Centre for Social Impact. This was followed by an introductory session held by the Strategic

Innovation Leads for HWNS, Angela Meyer and Felicity Nelson, who  presented the

background of HWNS and the challenges faced in the disability sector.

Dr John McGhee, who is a practicing 3D CGI artist, researcher and senior lecturer based at

UNSW Art & Design, opened the speaker session for the event. He has a background in

design and 3D computer arts research.  He spoke about his practice exploring arts-led

modes of visualising complex scientific and biomedical data, using the 3D CGI techniques

used in the visual effects and animation industries.

Seiya Takeda (picture below), who is an entrepreneur and co-founder of V-Kaiwa, which is

an English language learning Virtual Reality Startup targeting Japanese businesspeople,

shared his experience in immersive tech rapid prototyping. He provided the participants

tips and tools on how to develop a solution in a short time frame. 

Dr John McGhee at the Immersive Tech Hackathon

After the speaker session, the participants were given one hour to come with a solution for

the challenges put forward. Participants pitched their promising ideas to all participants for

1 to 2 minutes each. Participants then selected an idea they wish to help refine, formed a

team and moved into the hack session.

Teams worked hard, some of them almost without any breaks, to advance the projects as

far as possible within the 24 hours of the hack. Subject matter experts and ethnographic

researchers for the project were present at the event to help teams conceptualise their

solutions. 

At 4:30pm of day two, the teams now had to present their approach, solutions and  ideas.

After the presentations, the judging panel rated the projects according to the disclosed

criteria. 

Teams brainstorming ideas   

WINNING TEAM- DIMEDoorway Immersive Multi-risk Environment referred to asDIME. DIME provides support workers a virtual reality basedlearning experience that with complex situations that occur inreal life. It also provides them with a unique understanding  ofrisk prioritisation behaviours and a peer learningenvironment.  .

TEAM RARPSThe team presented the solution of a receptive and riskprevention support room using virtual reality to help mitigaterisks faced by support workers. The stress level of the supportworker can also be measured using voice recognition andheart rate tracker.

AGILE-EMUThis idea based on virtual reality, provides support workers a learning experience through a game- like structure. Support workers will encounter situations at varying complexities at different levels of the training experience.

QENIQThis team presented the idea of a virtual reality simulator for support workers using VR headsets and gloves. The support worker will go through different levels of risk (low,medium, high) with a fixed time limit. The support worker is expected to manage the risk scenario using hand gestures and trigger words. 

House with No Steps is delighted to see the successful outcomes of the teams in such a

short time, and believes that all teams have different aspects that could be implemented in

the project. The top four teams were awarded cash prizes. HWNS is looking to further

develop the prototype made by team DIME in the coming months.