Joyride is a team at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) collaborating with researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Human Computer Interaction Institute to create and host ChairJam. ChairJam is a three-day Game Jam / Hardware Hackathon to create interactive experiences which highlight a sense of joy around wheelchair use. Instead of focusing on the practical and traditional uses for wheelchairs, this project seeks to explore their design and possibilities from a playful perspective. What delightful experiences are possible when we look past the ordinary?
Core to the Joyride team is the “Nothing About Us Without Us” philosophy. It’s impossible to design effectively for a community that is entirely separate from the designers. With that in mind, individuals who use wheelchairs will be part of the process from the planning stage through to the execution of the event as organizers, consultants, and participants.
Our project collaborators are the [instigators] of the ChairJam concept: Heather Kelley of the ETC, Accessibility Researcher Patrick Carrington of HCII, and Gaming Innovation Researcher / Wheelchair User Theresa Devine from Arizona State University. Working with our clients and other industry partners, we seek to make ChairJam an enjoyable, equitable, and productive event for all attendees.