Dr. Elaine Biddiss will share her experiences making therapeutic video games for kids at an ICAIR panel about how creative technology is transforming healthcare.
At the Possibility Engineering and Research Lab (PEARL), part of the Bloorview Research Institute at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, physical therapy doesn’t involve kids performing repetitive motions, parents working through a list of stretches, or professionals using constraint therapy.
Instead, children play video games. Thanks to a 3D camera that tracks their movements, they can control what happens by moving their body in a therapeutic way and manipulating real-world objects. They hold their arms out sideways to control a line that shoots cartoon ghosts, shake real-world instruments to make music, and build towers with blocks on a table to keep a magician’s act going.
These mini-games are part of Bootle Blast, a motion-based rehabilitation video game for children that stands out thanks to its high-quality graphics and engaging plotlines, created by a team led by Dr. Elaine Biddiss, a senior scientist in the PEARL lab.
Dr. Biddiss will share her experience creating an interdisciplinary team, finding funding and working with young people, their families and clinicians onstage at the International Conference on Aging, Innovation and Rehabilitation (ICAIR) May 1 and 2.
She will discuss how creative technology is transforming healthcare with Anthea Foyer, Director of the City of Toronto’s Creative Technology Office, and moderator Garrick Ng, Program Lead at KITE Creates, which fosters collaborations between healthcare and creative industries. “When people are working together and drawing from different areas of expertise and lived experiences, it’s more likely to lead to a more impactful product,” says Dr. Biddiss.
The panel marks a growing recognition of the power of interdisciplinary partnerships. Projects like Bootle Blast offer a compelling model for the future, where design skills and clinical need combine to create more accessible and engaging innovations.
“This game is trying to offer access to rehabilitation in a way that’s much more in line with children’s preferences and what interests them,” she says. “These kids have to do this on top of school, chores, homework, and everything else—I believe we have a real responsibility to make rehabilitation as fun for them as possible.”