Auti-Sim
By Taylan Kay - Added On 2/26/2013
This game was developed during Hacking Health Vancouver 2013 hackathon. The player navigates through a playground as an autistic child with auditory hypersensitivity. Proximity to loud children causes sensory overload for the player, impacting cognitive functions. This impact is represented as visual noise and blur, as well as audio distortion. Participants described the experience as visceral, insightful and compelling.
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While the physical effects of autism are in no way similar to the ones we can see there (human beings don't have blurry cameras for eyes for starters), I can see what the developers were aiming for. The mental oppression, the need to run away from our peers, and even (for my case at least) look away and focus on a lifeless fence or tree, even if it had no impact whatsoever, certainly give this game a visceral impact.
This being a trial, I hope the final version will be more diverse (especially when it comes to children's voices, and perhaps animations). Moreover, the claim to "simulate autism" is nonsensical at best (you can't possibly simulate a generic illness for which a multitude of forms exist).
Still, I'd love to see where this goes.