{"id":820,"date":"2023-04-19T15:34:23","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T15:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/?page_id=820"},"modified":"2025-07-31T18:37:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T18:37:35","slug":"univrsal-access","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/about\/univrsal-access\/","title":{"rendered":"UniVRsal Access"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"626\" src=\"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/04\/Mission_to_Europa_Prime-1024x626.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot from the game Mission to Europa Prime. A sci-fi landscape with a human base in the foreground and a large planet visible on the horizon. \" class=\"wp-image-661\" style=\"width:400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/04\/Mission_to_Europa_Prime-1024x626.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/04\/Mission_to_Europa_Prime-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/04\/Mission_to_Europa_Prime-768x469.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/04\/Mission_to_Europa_Prime.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>UniVRsal Access<\/strong> embraces <strong>ND in STEM<\/strong> by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Co-designing the STEM-based virtual reality (VR) game <em>Europa Prime<\/em> with and for neurodivergent learners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Researching VR design options for players with sensory, attention, and social differences.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developing the game and researching if\/how it impacts neurodivergent players\u2019 STEM interest and awareness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Officially called \u201cBroadening Participation in Informal STEM Learning for Autistic Learners and Others through Virtual Reality\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2005447\">DRL- 2005447<\/a>), <strong>UniVRsal Access<em> <\/em><\/strong>involved the design, development, and research of the STEM-based virtual reality (VR) game<strong> <\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europaprime.org\/home\">Europa Prime<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the first two years of the project, we conducted an extensive co-design process. The co-design team included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Students at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.landmark.edu\">Landmark College<\/a>, a post-secondary institute for learners with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other learning differences, and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Designers and researchers from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.terc.edu\/edge\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"www.terc.edu\/edge\">EdGE<\/a>, the Educational Gaming Environments group at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.terc.edu\">AV°ÍÊ¿<\/a>, a not-for-profit STEM education company.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We met regularly via Zoom and Miro Boards to shape the game\u2019s story, craft and respond to artwork, design puzzles and user interfaces, and otherwise create the game together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In parallel, we conducted research on the preferences and performances of neurodivergent and neurotypical (by self-report) participants under a variety of sensory experiences. These included different levels of brightness, amounts of clutter, color palettes, and noise volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.europaprime.org\/home\">VR game<\/a> is being developed in collaboration with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mxtreality.com\/\">MXTreality<\/a>, a team specializing in immersive and interactive virtual, augmented, and digital experiences. We\u2019re preparing for both:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Research on if and how well the game builds awareness of and interest in STEM for neurodivergent players and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Public distribution of the STEM-based game <em>Europa Prime<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UniVRsal Access embraces ND in STEM by:<\/p>\n<p>Co-designing the STEM-based virtual reality (VR) game <em>Europa Prime<\/em> with and for neurodivergent learners.<\/p>\n<p>Researching VR design options for players with sensory, attention, and social differences.<\/p>\n<p>Developing the game and researching if\/how it impacts neurodivergent players\u2019 STEM interest and awareness.<\/p>\n<p>Background<\/p>\n<p>Officially called \u201cBroadening Participation in Informal STEM Learning for Autistic Learners and Others through Virtual Reality\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2005447\">DRL- 2005447<\/a>), UniVRsal Access<em> <\/em>involved the design,  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/about\/univrsal-access\/\">&nbsp;&raquo;&nbsp;Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":540,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-820","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2910,"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/820\/revisions\/2910"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terc.edu\/ndinstem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}