Usability testing games for prosthetic training

Abstract

Prosthetic Arms can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars each. Insurance companies will often only pay for 1 lifetime arm and often will not provide them for children. So, more often than not children go without them. Fortunately, as 3D printing has come into the fold a new generation of 3D printed, and creatively expressive, low cost prosthetics have become available for kids. At the same time the arms can have a steep learning curve. In an effort to teach users how their prosthetics function and strengthen muscles prior to receiving a prosthetic arm a video game training system is being developed. The video game system combines custom hardware and custom video games to provide various ways for a prosthetics user to engage. This paper is the result of usability testing these five games.