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Using a Gesture-based videogame to support eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills of children with down syndrome Karina Caro1 · Ivan Alejandro Encinas-Monroy2 · Veronica Lizeth Amado-Sanchez2 · Oscar Ivan Islas-Cruz2 · Edgar Armando Ahumada-Solorza2 · Luis A. Castro2 Received: 1 September 2019 / Revised: 11 July 2020 / Accepted: 28 July 2020 / © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract Children with Down syndrome (DS) have deficits in eye-hand coordination skills. Deficits in eye-hand coordination could negatively impact the acquisition of literacy skills. This paper presents the evaluation of BeeSmart, a gesture-based videogame for supporting eyehand coordination and pre-literacy skills. The aim of this work is to investigate whether BeeSmart has the potential to support eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills of children with DS. A 10-week study with seven children with DS and two psychotherapists is presented. The results indicate that BeeSmart was perceived as a potential tool to support eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills. Three out of seven participants improved their eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills to some degree. The evaluation study also revealed some improvements that should be made to BeeSmart, such as a reward counter for children with DS with a higher cognitive level. More game sessions with BeeSmart is required to investigate at what degree of BeeSmart improves eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills of children with DS.  Karina Caro

[email protected]; [email protected] Ivan Alejandro Encinas-Monroy [email protected] Veronica Lizeth Amado-Sanchez [email protected] Oscar Ivan Islas-Cruz [email protected] Edgar Armando Ahumada-Solorza [email protected] Luis A. Castro [email protected] 1

Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), Ensenada, Mexico

2

Sonora Institute of Technology (ITSON), Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico

Multimedia Tools and Applications

Keywords Gesture-based videogame · Down syndrome · Eye-hand coordination · Literacy skills

1 Introduction Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder occurring in 1 about 1000 births [40]. Children with DS can have impairments in cognitive ability and physical growth, mild to moderate developmental disabilities, and a higher risk of some health problems (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy). Some children with DS experience moderate to severe learning difficulties. Also, they may present relative weaknesses in gross motor skills and expressive language, and typically experience a delay in speech learning [13]. Additionally, some children with DS experience deficits in eye-hand coordination [36]. That is, the ability to integrate both visual and motor abilities to accomplish a goal (e.g., reaching for a ball). Also, eye-hand coordination involves using hands and fingers to reach a visual target. Deficits in eye-hand coordination could impact negatively on the acquisition of literacy skills (i.e., the ability to read and write [3]1