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Mindesign Labs X HeartShare

CogniMotion VR: Mapping movement, mapping mind

Collaborator: Rowynn Dumont

Duration: Ongoing

Role: Ideation, Prototyping, Programming, User-testing, Data Collection & Visualisation

Tools: Unity, Meta XR, Oculus 3s, Google Forms, Google Sheets. Figma

What is CogniMotion?

CogniMotion is a gamified VR tool that helps neurodivergent users build spatial motor skills through play. With hand tracking and responsive feedback, it transforms therapy into an intuitive, engaging experience.

Who is for?

Autistic Individuals, especially adults over the age of 18. we are currently testing and iterating this with HeartShare NYC which is a non-profit organization that helps neurodivergent individuals

The Challenge

In day-hab centers, autistic adults often face therapy spaces that are under-resourced; crowded, noisy, and lacking privacy. The result is constant overstimulation instead of support.

Where we Began

While teaching art classes, Rowynn noticed something telling: students weren’t limited by imagination, but by motor control. Even holding a paintbrush became a hurdle to expression.

What We Heard

Users grew frustrated with repetitive tasks and disengaged quickly. The tools weren’t broken, but they weren’t working either.

Why VR?

Virtual environments offer unique advantages: they’re immersive, repeatable, and easy to adapt. Studies show that this level of control makes VR especially suited for therapeutic learning, allowing users to practice motor tasks in low-risk, responsive spaces (Carpio-Alfsen et al., 2023). When tasks are gamified and tailored to individual needs, engagement increases significantly (Irshad et al., 2021).

Improve Focus

  1. Gamify

  2. Signal progress

Directional Awareness

  1. Duck facing the arrow

  2. Window for relative direction

Reduce Cognitive Load

  1. Minimize distractions

  2. Hand-tracking

The Design

We designed a With-in subjects experiment with two conditions; 'Gamified Condition' and 'Non-Gamified Condition'

Gamify

Visual and Audio feedback. 'Gamifying' therapy and make them not boring

Duck

We chose ducks because everyone knows them and likes them (maybe).

Hand-tracking

Reduce cognitive load. Makes it easier to interact with the objects. Also, we can record data

Window

For relative direction.

Gamified Condition

  1. Duck snaps in the right direction

  2. 'Quack' Audio Feedback

Non-gamified Condition

  1. The Duck doesn't snap

  2. No Audio Feedback

User-testing

At our User-testing with Autistic Individuals at HeartShare we found out that the first 'Gamified Condition' had 37.5% success rate in comparison to the 'Non-Gamified Condition'. This was because of the order the Conditions were played in. This means that they got better at completing the task because of repeated trials

However, in the post-survey 100% agreed that they quite enjoyed the 'Quack' sound and the feedback made things easier.

Success Rate in Gamified Condition

Success Rate in Non-gamified Condition

Player Satisfaction in Gamified Condition

Next Steps

Gamified therapy showed measurable engagement gains and positive feedback from autistic participants. Future iterations will randomize conditions and expand hand-tracking data visualization.