Name: Gordon Tao
Program: PhD
Supervisor: Dr. William C. Miller
Tell us a little bit about your lab!
At the MATTERS Lab, led by Dr. William C. Miller, our research is centered on understanding and improving mobility, social participation, and ultimately quality of life of older adults through assistive technology.
What project are you currently working on?
With the GARDEN (GAmes for Rehabilitation DEsign Nexus) project, we are developing a conceptual framework for the design of digital games specifically as rehabilitation therapy, i.e. rehabilitation games. This work will help multi-disciplinary development teams better integrate the requirements of rehabilitation therapy with principles of game design while ultimately centering rehabilitation games on the needs of the end-user as both a game player and rehabilitation client.
What do you like to do outside of academia?
I enjoy Vancouver staples of hiking and beach time! As a graduate student, it’s important to hold onto your creative outlets. For me, I love to cook–it’s a nice small-scale project you can complete AND eat! Considering my research area, I also like a good game here and there.
Congratulations Gordon on being our featured Student of the Month for February! Interested in seeing what else our Rehabilitation Sciences students and trainees are working on? Stay tuned for our next feature!