In this series, you'll hear from a few of our team members about their favorite moments over the last year! If you missed Karin's post last week, you could find that here. Today Guy, our beloved web developer, shares a beautiful story from his recent trip to the U.S. to meet our users.
Guy & Karin (Game Developer & Graphic Designer) during their visit to NYC.
Ever since I was a kid, I've been a gamer and appreciated the impact games could have on our lives. When done right, games are engaging, challenging, immersive, and, most importantly, fun! They can take our minds off of things and take us on amazing adventures, while enhancing our coordination, improving our reaction time, and sparking our imagination. My love for games is what made me want to become a programmer and what brought me to RESTORE.
For the past few years, I have had the opportunity to work and collaborate on a platform that focuses on bringing the fun and engagement of gaming to people who do not get to experience it often (and maybe need it the most). During a recent trip to the U.S. (I'm from Israel), I got to see the result of our hard work in action, and it was AMAZING! I loved seeing how different centers react to and engage with our platform, and I'd like to share one experience that stuck with me.
Getting Started
At one center, after our training session with the staff, the DOR invited a nice gentleman in a wheelchair to try out our platform. His O.T. told us that he could stand for about 30 seconds at a time when assisted by at least two staff members. After a short review of the activities, we decided our new friend was about to go skiing for the first time in his life by playing our hit game "Ski Saga." We started the game by having the patient play with his hand while seated to give him a sense of how the games worked. After a short session this way, he was excited and ready to go for real!
It was a bit of a challenge for him to stand up, but with the help of the DOR and his O.T., he was up and ready to go. The game started and...he hit a tree, then another one and another one as he was unable to perform the actions required to move the little skier on the screen. It was then that the DOR asked the player sidestep towards him. The patient took a small step towards the DOR and the little skier responded by changing lanes, avoiding a tree at the last second. It was now time to move to the left, "now sidestep towards me," the O.T. on the other side said while assisting the patient. The patient responded by moving left, and so did the little skier. And then, something incredible happened… another tree came towards our skier, and without any assistance or instruction whatsoever, the patient took a large sidestep to avoid it.
The RESTORE Difference
A few seconds later, and the patient was now playing, standing up assisted only by his O.T. He then went on to play for a few more minutes, eventually entirely on his own (with his O.T. by his side, of course), taking big side steps to the left and right, skillfully controlling the character on the screen and showing the game who's boss! He even forgot about the fact that he was doing therapy because he was having so much fun. Everyone in the room was now watching him play; it was glorious! Our friend, who a few minutes ago was only able to stand for 30 seconds assisted by two people, was now skiing freely from side to side and even taking small squats to avoid bridges.
That was only one of the countless meaningful experiences I had during my fantastic visit, and it sure gave me the motivation to keep making our platform even better for the therapists and patients harnessing the incredible power of gaming.
Follow RESTOREskills on Facebook & LinkedIn for updates on our platform, new game announcements, testimonials, tips, and much much more! To schedule an obligation free demonstration of our on-demand therapy platform with our team, please contact us at info@restoreskills.com or call (330) 968-2879. We look forward to supporting your goals!