İstanbul Dissemination Summit

DISSEMINATION EVENT OF THE VIRTUAL REALITY FOR INCLUSION PROJECT HAVE CARRIED

OUT IN ISTANBUL

Within the Erasmus + program supported by Turkey's National Agency "Physical and Social
Inclusion of Paraplegic Youth by Using Virtual Reality Project" dissemination summit was
held in Istanbul hosted by Bahçeşehir University on 25 December 2019. The main aim of the
project is to involve young people with spinal cord paralysis, gain self-confidence and
contribute to preventing muscle loss due to inactivity for the target group. Three outputs
were produced for this purpose;
– Needs analysis/field research was implemented.
– 3 virtual reality applications (game) were developed.
– Social inclusion training program enriched with virtual reality applications was produced.
In line with the defined goals, the project was conducted under the coordination of the
Bahcesehir University from Turkey and the partners as Development and Innovation Office,
International Spinal Cord Injury Association from Turkey, Tyrtaios Disabled Sports Club from
Greece and Silesian University of Technology from Poland. During the project time, which
covers a total of 24 months, international pilot training, study visits and local practices were
carried out in order to test produced training program and VR applications.
As part of the implemented summit on December 25th, 124 individual and institutional
representatives from different provinces of Turkey participated and they were informed
about the project, given information about the produced output, as well as were provided
an opportunity to experience VR games. The event started with the opening speech of Vice-
Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Başkese, then project coordinator Prof. Dr. Tufan Adıgüzel made a
presentation about the project. Dr. Güven Çatak and Dr. İlker Berkman from BAU VR First
LAB gave technical information about the games produced. Also, different sessions were
held as; share the achievements of youth participants with physical disabilities in a panel,
the Erasmus+ opportunities for young people, and a workshop on Virtual Reality and ways of
use in the social area.
All participants were given certificates and virtual reality glasses to try out the games
produced.
Dissemination and visibility studies of the project are ongoing and the next dissemination
event will be held on 18 January 2020 in Ankara.
For more information about the project and outputs, please visit
http://www.vr4inclusion.org.