Identifying Accessibility Conditions for Children with Multiple Disabilities: A Virtual Reality Wheelchair Simulator

Training is one of the main domain applications of Virtual Reality (VR). Simulation and visual realism provide training situations very close to practice with real systems while reducing cost and with greater safety. Furthermore, VR offers the possibility of change time or space scales, visualize from different perspectives, experience inaccessible real environments, all under the user's control, without risks, at her own pace. This allows to develop skills and to have confidence to work thereafter in real conditions with real equipment. Interaction technologies are now more widely available and affordable. But generally devices are conceived for “standard” people leaving behind people with impairments and further accentuating the digital gap. In this paper, we present our work in the development of an accessible wheelchair simulator designed to allow children with multiple disabilities to familiarize themselves with the wheelchair, and practitioners to better understand children capabilities.