CLARITY @DCU Sports Summer Camp

Every Tuesday over a period of six weeks in July and August, squash courts at the DCU Sports Centre are transformed into a wonderland of interactive games, courtesy of CLARITY.

Over the duration of this year’s annual DCU sports Summer camp, up to 900 children between the ages of 6 and11 years are experiencing a sensor-based interactive team game which encourages leadership, communication and team building, as well as being great exercise and buckets of fun.

The game has been developed by DCU researchers Edmond Mitchell and Grahame Healy, with input from other CLARITY researchers, and essentially is a kind of “techie-rounders” where a team captain wears a wireless headset and gives instructions to his/her team. Points are scored as each player kicks or throws a ball at a moving target projected onto the back wall of the squash court. A sensor is used to detect where the ball hits the target, and team scores are given based to this. After the second week over nine hundred shots had been taken.

Prof. Niall Moyna of DCU, whose research students were involved in building the game, believes that team games like this are important for a variety of reasons, “this particular game helps children to develop motor skills and find the enjoyment in sports which could lead to more confidence in sports activities in their future lives”.

Reaction from participating children has been very positive, with children wanting to play the game time and time again. This game not only acts to increase both enjoyment and participation in sports activity but also introduces the children to cutting edge technology from CLARITY.

Pictured above (from L-R) are Grahame at the computer controls, a screen shot of the projected image from the game and Edmond and Dr Aiden Doherty at the computer controls.