Play not only contributes to a child's overall development but also affects a child's quality of life and health, as evidenced by its inclusion within the WHO's ICF -Children and Youth Version. The scanty literature on play of children with motor disabilities highlights the presence of severe limitations - provoked by individual and environmental factors - including lack of initiative, limited range of play partners and poor play activities. AT, by moderating the consequences of functional impairments and removing environmental barriers, can offer play opportunities to children with motor impairments, thus enhancing their social participation and global development. The proceedings of conferences on application of AT to disability and references in similar research fields, such as occupational therapy, psychology and pedagogy, have been analysed to identify the most significant trends in this field and to present effective experiences in the use of technologies for the play of children with motor impairments. The main technological issues within these studies are virtual reality, accessibility of video games, robotics and adaptation of standard toys. Virtual Reality and Gesture Recognition systems have recently been applied in order to investigate their impact on playfulness of children with cerebral palsy. Results emphasize that children, using their whole body as an input device in an immersive virtual play environment, can access a wide range of play activities, hence enhancing their pleasure during play while increasing their motivation. Some Robotic systems designed for children with motor impairments have been developed in recent years. These systems include robots assisting users in their physical interaction with toys, such as the PlayROB system, as well as robotic play mediators, such as the IROMEC robot.
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