Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance for PD® program uses the training and techniques of professional dance to improve the lives of Parkinson’s sufferers. Founded in 2001, the program was an immediate success and, by 2014, classes were being taught in more than 80 countries around the world. But Program Director David Leventhal wanted to deepen that reach and allow participants to use Dance for PD’s powerful tools outside of the classroom and in their daily lives. Working with a grant from Google, Dance for PD enlisted Manhattan-based digital agency SS+K to develop Moving Through Glass, the first-ever augmented reality application providing round-the-clock aid for people living with Parkinson’s. Kevin Skobac, SVP of Digital Strategy at SS+K, and Executive Producer Craig von Wiederhold will discuss the design and development of Moving Through Glass through the lens of a key ‘re-learning’ the unique project afforded them: the core of great usability design is always empathy.

1. Moving Through Glass
Making the world more usable for people with
Parkinson’s Disease

2. The Dance For PD® Technique
● Use visual and auditory cues to initiate movement
● Mirror, Imitate, and Entrain
● Express meaning through gesture
● Use rhythm to locomote
● Develop strategies to maintain balance

3. The Challenge
How to bring Dance For PD®
techniques out of the
classroom and into the daily
lives of participants.

4. SS+K, a boutique agency with a big client list,
about one third of which are political and philanthropic causes, including the
Obama campaigns, Smile Train, The Gates Foundation, and Planned
Parenthood.
SS+K LABS, an incubator of innovative creative technologies
exploring nascent mediums, platforms, and technologies through the
development of unique products and services.

5. SS+K LABS
We build lots of interfaces.
Mostly for people like us:

6. SS+K LABS
Healthy
Young (some of us)
Urban
Digitally savvy
Overly caffeinated
Craig Von Wiederhold John Swartz Scott Park Amos Bloomberg Kevin Scobac

7. SS+K LABS
This project re-taught the fundamental
principle of good
User Experience design:
Put yourself in your User’s place.

8. Getting Started: Key Decisions
Keep the Dance For PD vision intact:
● Augment real-world classes
● Focus on what helps people move, not on gadgetry
● Allegiance to learnings from discovery

9. Google Glass
Seemed like the perfect platform
• Hands-free with optical display, it
augments the real world rather than
replacing it
• Portable; can go anywhere, any time
• Easily controlled via voice or manual taps
and swipes

10. Our Users
Parkinson's is a degenerative disorder of the CNS mostly affecting
older people. Associated symptoms include:
• Difficulty with both initiation and attenuation of movement
• Tremors
• Weakness and/or rigidity of limbs and body
• Difficulties with balance
• Thinking and behavioral problems, possibly including dementia
in later stages.
• Older adults, so vision and hearing issues are common

11. Our Users
Real World Difficulties:
● Awakening
● Getting on their feet
● Walking on empty streets
● Freezing

12. Four routines from morning to night

13. First Design and Prototype
● Full Google Glass software suite combined with Moving Through Glass software
● ”Warm Me Up,” “Balance Me,” “Unfreeze Me” each 10-15mins long
● “Walk with Me” has continuous video
● Speak or touch anytime, multiple gestures available
● Myriad options for controlling experiences, including video scrolling, adjusting
routine speeds, custom music selections

14. We re-learn the lesson:
Usability is about the User.

15. Learnings
User
● Difficulty with fine motor
control
● Difficulty controlling speech
● Need to work at their own
pace
● Older population, sometimes
with cognitive impairments.
Glass
● Small, sensitive input
touchpad
● Voice commands
● UI times out, processor
overheats during extended
video, battery life
● Complex UI based on
metaphor of a timeline;
Switching between
applications, adjusting
settings are difficult

16. The Final Build
• OS rooted, all applications
removed except MTG and
essential settings
• Simplified Menu
• Speech input disabled
• All functions can be run using
just two simple input gestures:
tap and swipe down
• Simplified application flow,
with ubiquitous on-screen
instructions at every step.
• Application auto-play
through all exercises in
each module after start

17. How It Works

18. How It Works

19. “Warm Me Up”

20. “Warm Me Up”

21. “Warm Me Up”

22. “Warm Me Up”

23. “Walk With Me” – begin with video & music

24. “Walk With Me” – after 30 seconds, video stopped,
music plays continuous loop

25. “Walk With Me” - tap brings back video for 30 sec.

26. “Walk With Me” – tap increases speed, swipe down reduces it

27. Results
• 20 Glass in use at Mark Morris Dance
Center, Brooklyn
• Ongoing testing at Weill Cornell Medical,
Stanford University, and Syracuse
University
• Awarded the Tolley Medal from Syracuse
University
• Recognition from One Show and UX
Awards
• Featured in Journal of American Medical
Association

28. Next Steps
Exploring applications of AR/VR and IoT devices for
• Enhanced immersive experience
• Situational & spatial therapies
• Bio-monitoring & reporting

29. Thank You!