1Touch Cats

Touch Cats

Touch Cats © 2007 Sarah Greenland.

Touch Cats and its graphics are copyright to the author. You have been granted a licence to use these for education purposes only.

1998 IMSI Multimedia Fusion Runtime Player, IMSI and Europress Software Ltd.

No part of this publication or software may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or part by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Whilst every care has been taken with this product, the author and publisher cannot be held responsible for any errors it may contain. No liability is accepted for any loss or damage resulting from the use of this product.

Published by Inclusive Technology Ltd.

Inclusive Technology LtdRiverside Court, Huddersfield RoadDelph, Oldham OL3 5FZ, UKTel: +44 (0) 1457 819790 Fax: +44 (0) 1457 819799email: inclusive@inclusive.co.ukwww.inclusive.co.uk

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Introduction

Touch Cats are computer pets with a difference. Bring them to life using an interactive plasma screen or touch monitor, or by using a single switch, two switches or mouse. Ideal for encouraging hand-eye coordination, even in those who start with very little.

Touch/mouse users can ‘walk’ a cat around a scene and then watch it interact with objects of interest. Switch users operate the switch and let the cat choose which object to play with. Touch and switch users can also work together.

Five activity-packed locations are included. These are the kitchen, living room, garden, child’s bedroom and alleyway. At each location, any or all of the activities can be disabled for touch or mouse users. The cat can still be ‘walked’ around the scene even with all activities disabled, allowing control to develop without distractions.

Use the scenes as a basis for storytelling and to demonstrate concepts such as ‘behind’, ‘in front of’, ‘on top of’, ‘below’, ‘underneath’, ‘outside’, ‘inside’ etc.

The cats will appeal to children on one level and to adults on another.

Whether learning to use the hands for the first time, or relearning after stroke or major injury, there is plenty here to motivate and entertain.

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Minimum Requirements

WindowsWindows 2000, XP, VistaPentium 3 733 MHz or above128MB RAM

Installing Touch Cats

You will need to install Touch Cats before you can run it. You only need to do this once.

Installation requires Administrator access to your computer.

Insert the CD.

If your computer is set to Auto-run CDs the installer window should appear on the screen after about 10 seconds.

Otherwise, double-click on My Computer, then double-click on the CD icon. Double-click on SetupTouchCats1pt15.exe to run the installer.

When the window appears, follow the prompts to begin installation.

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Running Touch Cats

The installer will place an icon on the desktop (this looks like a cat’s eye). Double-click on it and then click on the Play button.

Stopping Touch Cats

Press the ESC key at any time, or double-click on the blue X at the bottom of the screen.

This will take you to the options screen. Click on Exit on the bottom right to exit the program completely.

First Use

After clicking on the Play button, you’ll find yourself in the kitchen. Using a touch monitor or plasma, simply touch the cat and move it around the screen. With a mouse, position the pointer over the cat and move it around - the cat will walk with you. If the cat finds something interesting, it will play with it. When the mouse pointer becomes visible, position it over the cat or touch it again.

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Alternatively, press Space or Enter (or either switch) to make the cat find something else to do.

To change location or any of the options, double-click on the X button at the bottom right of the screen.

Press R on the keyboard to re-start the current activity at any time.

Press P on the keyboard to change the location using a Picture Menu (see Exit Method in this manual for further information).

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ActivitiesThe cats have five places to play. The Kitchen has the easiest activities and is a good place to start. The Child’s Bedroom and the Alley are more complex and are good for trying out later on.The cat cannot go everywhere on the screen. In particular it will be limited by walls, cupboards and various obstacles. If mouse users try to take the cat into a ‘no go’ area, the pointer will ‘bounce’ and flash until you move the cat back into safe territory. With a touch monitor, the cat will stay where it is and look at you indignantly!For those who do not have a height adjustable interactive screen such as the Inclusive Interactive Plasma Screen, Touch Cats is designed for wheelchair users to be able to reach everything easily. Touch users only need to ‘walk’ the cat around the bottom half of the screen. The cat will only enter the top half of the screen when it has found an item to play with and is carrying out an animated sequence with no need to be moved around by the user.

The KitchenThere are four things to find and do here - apart from making the cat go round and round in nice circles! Check out the cat flap, the cupboard by the door, the cat litter box and the window. Switch users will discover some additional sequences too.

The Living RoomThere are five areas to explore: the balloon, the window seat, the fireplace, the piano and the bottom right-hand area of carpet.

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The Child’s BedroomHere you can play with the train set or a dolls’ house. Also try looking under the bed a few times! Note: sometimes you’ll go to an area expecting something to happen and find the action disabled temporarily. This is so that you can explore another part of the scene.

The GardenThere are six things to find and do. The tortoise might give you a bit of a surprise!

The AlleySee what the ginger tom does when he thinks you’re not looking! But will he be distracted by the wildlife? This scene requires more accuracy in positioning the cat to get all the possible actions - but that won’t affect switch users.

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Touch Cats Options

Touch Cats has several options that enable you to tailor the program to your learners’ needs. To access the options, click the ESC key whilst playing an activity to go to the options screen.

You can also reach the options by double-clicking on the X button whilst playing an activity.

The options menu will appear. Click on the choices down the left-hand side of the screen to see the changes you can make.

LocationsHere you can choose a location to explore.

Access ModeThe default access mode is touch or switch.

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A switch user and a touch user could use the program together in a cooperative activity. This could also allow a helper to give the switch user some choice in what the cat will do next. If they can verbalise their preference the helper can walk the cat to the chosen action and then the switch user can take over. However, once the switch is pressed or the on-screen cat has been touched, the other user is locked out until the cat finishes its sequence. So, for example, you may need to wait until the cat has gone out of the cat flap for one of the users to make it come back in.

The program will accept the briefest touch as a valid switch press. If your switch user is very quick off the mark, or continually bangs the switch, you may need to amend your computer’s accessibility settings so the touch user gets a chance occasionally! You can do this by clicking Start, then Control Panel, and then double-clicking the Accessibility Options icon. Adjust the Filter Keys setting so that the user must hold the key (switch) down for a given period before it counts.

Other Access Modes

With touch or mouse you don’t get any switch access and you don’t get a switch icon prompting you to do something. The Picture Menu will not be accessible via switch scanning. You do get the option of disabling any or all of the activities at each location (see Making Things Easier on page 10.)

With 1 switch, use one switch (or the space or Enter keys). Press the switch whenever the cat stops.

2 separate switches gives each switch a separate function. Press switch 1 or space when the left switch icon shows on the screen, and the cat will choose something interesting to do. Some activities are multi-stage, so eventually the cat will stop in its tracks and the right switch icon will appear on-screen. At that point, press switch 2 or the Enter key to continue. Additional presses may be required to complete the whole sequence.

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Mouse PointerHere you can change how the mouse pointer will appear.

Making Things EasierThis option only applies if the access mode is set to touch or mouse.

You can enable all activities, disable all activities or just have a specific selection enabled.

Click through the locations by clicking on the green arrow on the bottom right of the screen.

You can make each location easier to use by disabling any actions you want at each location: simply click on the circle to the left hand side of the activity.

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Then click on Play.

If there are any actions disabled, for example in the child’s bedroom, you’ll see a yellow exclamation mark icon on the bottom right of the screen. Double-click on this to take you to the above menu to restore the activities.

Switch ColoursFrom time to time a switch appears on the screen, to prompt the user to press their switch. This option allows you to make these switch pictures match the actual switches you are using. For one switch users, change the colour for the Left Switch.

Restart DelayIt is possible that a touch monitor user may leave the cat ‘claimed’ by touching and dragging it - but not reaching a target, or getting stuck behind a chair/box etc. In this instance the activity will restart after 20 seconds. This option enables you to configure this restart time.

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Exit MethodYou may or may not want the learner to be able to change the cat’s location. The default setting is that they cannot.

Otherwise, they can hold down the space key (or left switch) for 20 seconds, or do nothing for various specified lengths of time. This will exit the current activity and offer a pictorial choice of locations.

The Picture Menu also provides audio cues for choosing where you want the cat to play. If touch or mouse is enabled simply touch or click on your chosen location.

Switch users can access the Picture Menu using scanning techniques. This will make a ‘scan box’ highlight each location in turn; press the switch when it reaches the required choice. You can change the speed of the scan movement using the Scan Speed option.

For two switch users, switch 1 will move the scan box while switch 2 will select the item. For more information, see the Scan Speed option.

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Scan Speed Here you can adjust the scan speed for accessing the Picture Menu with a single switch. See the Exit Method option above.

For two switch users, select none (scan and select).

Scan ColourThis option enables you to choose the colour of the scan box in the Picture Menu. See the Exit Method option for details.

Saving Your Options

If you change any of the options via the options menu, they will be remembered the next time you run the program. (If you change the location using the Picture Menu, this will not be remembered.)

In Windows, if different users are logged on, their options will be remembered individually when they log on again.

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Default SettingsFor a quick way to reset the options, click on Default Settings in the options menu.

Choose reset to default settings and click on Play to continue.

Further Information

Click this button for the program credits.

Click this button for further information about using Touch Cats.

Uninstalling Touch CatsLook on the Start menu under Touch Cats for the Uninstall option. This will also uninstall any saved options.

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Notes

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Notes