Amit Pitaru
Artist, Software Designer and Educator, currently teaching at New York University’s ITP and Cooper Union.
Three Expertise Keywords:
Ecology-of-Games
Why Digital Media and Learning?
I think that digital-media can provide new opportunities for personal empowerment and social inclusion to youth with special-needs.
Recent Posts:
- Amit Pitaru: Videogames and Special-Needs Children (November 9, 2006)
Description of Current Work:
I was first introduced to the field of Assistive Technology through a collaborative effort between NYU and Henry Viscardi School (see links below). Through this collaboration, I’ve designed custom software and hardware for disabled young gamers. Throughout the project, I’ve seen Occupational Therapists conduct amazing therapy sessions that utilize computer games, and witnessed how online-gaming provide new agencies of social-inclusion for many children that are confined to their homes. I was recently asked by the MacArthur foundation to write an article about digital-games and accessibility, from the perspective of a game designer. My chapter will demonstrate a case study of a popular computer game that is made accessible to children with special needs, and exhibit the unexpected benefits that emerge from doing so. I will then expand the argument to show how other games could fulfill this potential if they are to be designed in an inclusive manner. It is my hope to show the readers how people with disabilities can participate in popular gaming activities, and depict the benefits of fulfilling this potential.
Selected Publications/Projects/Articles/Press:
E Is for Everyone: The Case for Inclusive Game Design
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/dmal.9780262693646.067
http://pitaru.com/tetris - An accessible Tetris game that embeds inclusive-design (as discussed in the chapter).
http://pitaru.com/macarthur - a recently-opened forum to support my chapter research, on the subject of digital-games and special needs. Please join us there.
