MagnoFly: game-based screening for dyslexia.

James A. Ferwerda and Brendan Rehon

Dyslexia is a reading disorder that affects approximately five percent of the population. Recent research suggests that deficits in the motion sensitive magnocellular pathways of the visual system may play an important role in some forms of the problem (Stein & Walsh ’97, Pammer & Wheatly ’01, Talcott et al. ‘02). Testing magnocellular motion sensitivity in young children could help identify those at risk for developing dyslexia, however existing tests are time consuming, boring, and difficult to administer. To address this issue we have developed a computer game called MagnoFly that evaluates a player’s magnocellular function using motion coherence patterns. The player’s task in the game is to protect babies from swarms of flies. Initially the swarms move randomly, but over time one swarm moves coherently toward one of the babies. The player gains points by spraying the aggressive swarm, but loses points by spraying indiscriminately. Over the course of the game a background process varies the swarm motion, and thereby measures the player’s motion coherence threshold. At the end of the game a report is generated that allows physicians and other specialists to review individual results and determine if further evaluation for dyslexia is indicated. This work demonstrates the potential for using computer games as an enjoyable and effective platform for testing children's vision.

This work was supported by NSF grant IIS-0113310 and the Cornell Program of Computer Graphics.