'The Movement Room' a Kinect set up for pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties

This post will describe the 'Movement Room' set up in our ICT suite and how we get the most out of our Kinect in our special school.

The interactive technology in the room has been two years in the making- with help from all around the world from California to Cardiff and from Sydney to Jakarta.

Firstly- the computers at the back of the room.
There's a iMac plugged into one Kinect which runs the Processing sketches, Somantics, Noise Ink and Z-Vector, this is plugged into the smartboard.
Then there's a PC plugged into another Kinect which runs Visikord.

The Kinect extension wires travel across the room under a masking tape cover for health and safety reasons......

On the other side then is the Smart wall projector- projecting onto a blank white wall.  The two kinects are there too- one on a table and one on a stand (two because they are attached one to each computer). Oooh look, there's me waving too.
The projector is connected to both computers- so switching between input1 and HDMI enables you to swap screens in seconds between the iMac and the PC.

We also use choice boards for pupils to choose what programs they want to interact with- either the Somantics main screen print out or a home made board of sketch photos. 

So the pupils can choose from the ten Somantics apps, Visikord, Noise Ink, Follow, Kinect Physics, Lines Around the Body, Kinect Flow, Missouri Paint, Particles, Evil Twin and Rainbow Man.

Which means when the lights are off you've got the best Kinect-based interactive room in the world (possibly) and with some music on you've got the best Kinect-Disco room in the school!

For more information on the set up and the programs used please see the PLC's main Kinect information pages portal link here:

http://kinectsen.wikispaces.com/  The site will tell you all you need to know about Kinect and SEN in schools.

This video includes clips of the room in all it's incarnations over the last two years. 

Thanks to Wendy in Cardiff for Somantics, Davor in California for Visikord, Trent Brooks in Sydney for Noise Ink, Chris Riebschlager in Missouri for Kinect Art, Adityo Pratomo in Jakarta for Evil Twin and Rainbow Man, Amnon Owed in The Hague for Kinect Physics and Flow, all the other Processing Programmers out there and our very own Matt from Caerphilly for setting all the technology up.  

This room and the priceless interactions within would not have been possible without all of you. 

Anthony Rhys

Trinity Fields School

Ystrad Mynach

Professional Learning Community Overview

Welcome to the new Gesture Based Technology SEN PLC.

Link here for the Home site for the Gesture Based Technology PLC.   The site deals with using new technologies for pupils with PMLD/SLD/CLDD.

Our first meeting as a new group is on Thursday October 16th at Trinity Fields School, Ystrad Mynach. (9am for 9:30 start.  Finish 3pm)  All welcome- but let us know first!

Our central aim is how we use and analyse video evidence as in our work we record a lot of video but what do we do with it afterwards?  We will be looking at Video Analysis techniques that are currently used in sports but applying them to educational situations.

Work has already begun on this at Exeter House School on analysing Intensive Interaction sessions- see Andrew Walkers work with AnalysisPro here.

The PLC is co-headed by Exeter House School in Salisbury and Trinity Fields School in Caerphilly but all members are equal and can contribute as much or as little to the group as they can.

There will be a requirement to agree on how we will analyse video evidence and things out in class.

We will also be looking at new developments in Gesture Based Technology throughout the life of the PLC with practical and evidence demonstrations- this will include Kinect, Eyegaze, Leap Motion, Oculus Rift, iPads and touchscreens.

What is Gesture Based Technology?  How is it relevant for pupils with special educational needs?

This video will give you an overview.