THUMB & FINGER SERIES

Dexterity, Coordination, and Cognitive Engagement Games

Music: Rebecca Colclasure (2020)

Platform: StepMania Xbox Adaptive Controller / Keyboard / Switch-based InputGame Design: Stroke Survivors and RColclasure

 

These are Finger individuation Games designed alongside  stroke survivors and based on clinical evidence including:

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Mawase et al. (2020): Repetitive finger individuation in a piano-chord format led to lasting improvements in stroke survivors (2100 reps across 5 days).Chong et al. (2016): Found significant hand dexterity gains using repetitive MIDI keyboard pressing.

Khademi et al. (2014): Showed strong correlation between gamified finger tasks and Box and Block scores using Fruit Ninja.

 

 

Aim

These sets of games are fun finger dexterity games mapping finger movement to pitch and rhythm. The games have visual (arrows) and/or  auditory cues (vocal or rhythmic). These games can target finger individuation, reaction time, coordination and stamina through different levels.

 

Objectives

These games can be used to target different articulation of finger joints (MCP and PIP) through rhythmic and pitch cueing

The games provide a platform  to enable the completion of   low to high-repetition motivating gaming practice 

You can also use these games to improve reaction time, pattern recognition, and hand-eye coordination

The games can encourage finger individuation and reduce synergistic movement patterns

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Overview

 

This game series is split into two categories:

 

1. Music based synchrony arrow-based Games

Designed to support thumb or finger pressing in time with musical (pitches and rhythm) and visual cues (arrows)

 Movement can originate from either the MCP (metacarpophalangeal) or PIP (proximal interphalangeal) joints depending on the stroke survivors’ therapeutic goals.

Here is a video of a stroke survivor pressing the keys from his MCP joint:

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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_K7Zt0db_GI

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Gamified cueing uses arrow directions paired with musical tones.

 

2. Action Observation Games

These games feature a video or on-screen finger demo and you can play along  by pressing keys or switches at the same time as the video

These games can be played using a keyboard or with switches mapped to specific arrows.  Games are scaffolded by level difficulty—from beginner to advanced—and include thumb-only or multi-finger combinations. The arrows can be mapped to any finger combination that you wish to target.

 

 

How to Play

1.Sit or stand with keyboard or switches placed comfortably for finger reach.

2.Follow the arrow prompts on-screen.

3.Press the correct key or switch in time with the arrow which will be synced up to a steady beat or pitch sequence.

4.Green arrows appear as a warm-up and don’t count toward the score.

5.You will get a grade at the end of the game

6.A voice-over provides further instruction at the start of each game.

 

Technical Set up

A video tutorial on how to change keyboard keys to optimise finger-to-arrow mapping can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr7VDm6yoKs

 

Type of keyboard to use

A familiar keyboard is useful. Different keyboards have different ‘actuation forces’ (Compatible with 50g actuation force keyboards and external switches​​​​​​

 

A breakdown of actuation forces is here:

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"My keyboard has concave tops of the keys — that helps me figure out where to press down without looking at my fingers." — Stroke Survivor Feedback

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Tips

Stretch your fingers and hands before the exercise

Don't over strain

Don't worry if you miss targets! This is a game!

if you have pain  -  STOP and seek medical advice if necessary

 

 

 

 

Designed by: RColclasureSupported by participant feedback and current research on finger individuation and upper limb motor recovery.