Dyslexic Children’ Visual Spatial Potential

This paper discusses the design of a non-immersive virtual environment for diagnosing dyslexic children’s visual-spatial potential called D-Potensi and the diagnostic testing of the prototype. The design of the virtual environment is based on the adaption of Sutcliffe's VR development methodology, comprising four activities: (i) determining type of VR, (ii) selecting modalities and interaction devices, (iii) creating and modelling 3D objects, and (iv)creating terrains. For the diagnostic testing, a qualitative approach using semi-structured interview and an observation technique were used to identify the potential problems of DPotensi. Participants of the diagnostic test comprised the president of Malaysian Dyslexia Association (MDA), a dyslexic teacher, the father of a dyslexic child, and five dyslexic children. The results of the test suggest that the design of D-Potensi virtual environment needs further improvement to enhance its usability. As such, the researchers propose a number of suggestions to improve the design of D-Potensi virtual environment.