Disabilities may be some sort of a starting point, but this sort of product/feature doesn't necessarily begin and end there.
A controller is a UI paradigm, like the keyboard & mouse "desktop" paradigm. Serving a userbase that can't use a standard UI will lead to invention of new ones. This could easily lead to mass market products/features that people will want regardless of disabilities.
Particularly interesting (to me) are paradigms being developed for the blind, because they can't rely on displays. This is the same sort of problem as amazon echo, driving mode phones UIs and other products that need paradigms.
The key though, the key is that blind people are a "captive" market. They can't just use the display UI every time the voice UI sucks. This gives developer the opportunity to keep improving it until the number of use cases where voice UIs work better than display gets big enough.
> Everyone has abilities, and limits to those abilities. Designing for people with permanent disabilities actually results in designs that benefit people universally. Constraints are a beautiful thing.
I can only use one hand. I use to play video games all of the time but once game controllers started requiring two hands and shoulder buttons, I couldn't play most games. I could play some games with fighting controllers (https://www.amazon.com/HORI-Fighting-Commander-Officially-Li...)
I might try this. My son is very into video games and I would love to play with him again. The only games that I played with him when he was younger were fighting games like Tekken and Soul Calibur and a few simple beat em up games but the games he plays now are too complicated to play with one hand.
EDIT:
I'm still trying to figure out after watching the videos, how this works with one hand. They showed a guy who had cerebral palsy that affected his right side but they never went into details about how he adapts it.
Maybe they were just expecting the target market to know about assistive technologies? I've never used any so I don't know anything about them.
Fwiw, I'm mid build of a controller for a friend with one hand.
I'm riffing off the Ben Heck design https://www.benheck.com/controllers/ but I'm mounting the entire xbox controller on a $15 joystick and then wiring the analog 3dof sensor from the joystick into the xbox controller. So, with one hand, you have access to one origina thumbstick and tilt the entire controller to actuate the other thumbstick.
I've been eagerly awaiting this device from xbox. While it is great, it's just a breakout box, you still need to setup your inputs.
As a side note, are you aware of the class of devices such as the xim4 or the Venom X which comes with a mouse & nunchuck?
The "main" control pad doesn't seem like necessarily the most important thing: the most important thing is that on the back of the controller, there's a whole row of ports that you can use to plug in standard assitive devices into (buttons, pedals, sticks, whatever) to act as controller inputs. The idea is that it should be as flexible as possible to adapt to everyone's needs. I'm sure you would be able to find a solution for the games you want to play.
To hopefully give some encouragement: you can for sure play all modern games on a game controller with only a single hand, but it might take time to learn how to do so. There is a speed runner (who holds at least one world record) that has a disability preventing him from using more than one hand when gaming, and he regularly used modern controllers. You can see his Twitter here: https://mobile.twitter.com/halfcoordinated and can easily look up recordings of him playing (with a camera focused on his hand) at games done quick. I recommend his Vanquish run.
Ive done 3D printing for Able Gamers, a group looking to help provide assistive technology to those in need. I recommend check them out and if you have a 3d printer and want to help, send them an email.
check out thingiverse.com for freely available designs.
You don't mention which hand so I'll assume left (everything is made for right handers apparently)
A few comments below suggest an mmo mouse. I found a left hand version "Razer Naga left handed mmo ergonomic mouse", however I can't find where to buy it. Right handed MMO mice are more common and have different thumb setups. "Razer Naga Hex V2" is a good example.
Given a mouse you use an adapter to play on Xbox[1]
There is also a personal angle to Microsoft involvement with these type of initiatives. The CEO has two children with disabilities and it looks like he is pushing for an inclusive company more than any other CEO. There is also Gobabygo which is an open source organization that modifies toy cars for children with disabilities http://sites.udel.edu/gobabygo/
This is amazing. Microsoft frequently does things that offer amazing new ways of interfacing AND are hackable enough to have flexible applications. I have fond memories of owning and "hacking" the Kinect and connecting it to my PC, to develop custom code to control media playback and stuff. I never owned one, but the Surface also looked quite unique.
However, I feel these products don't reach the level of "lovability" other such products enjoy. I wonder if this is an execution or PR problem?
Either way, hope the Adaptive Controller enables a lot of people to enjoy video games and we see some interesting unconventional applications of it soon.
Mostly because the majority of users aren't interested in hackability of devices.
Kinect didn't have much in the way of software, and the OTS stuff was clunky. It also followed on after the Wii, which also featured clunky software, also had tremendous 1st party support to keep it viable.
All of the four controllers shown seem to be great, but it's funny that the joystick is basically just the Wii nunchuck. That's not a dig against Microsoft, I suspect Nintendo just really hit it out of the park with their Wii-mote design and that there isn't much else to improve.
I'm left-handed, and I remember realising that without thinking, I had switched to using my right hand for the analog joystick instead of the left one. This was months after I got a Wii - it was so natural that I hadn't even noticed. I don't recall anyone ever giving Nintendo credit for this, but their nunchuck-controller was pretty much the first mainstream controller for a console that was fully ambidextrous.
My dad has one hand, and only one finger on the hand he does have. He LOVED playing Atari 2600 and NES when I was a kid and I have very fond memories of playing games with him.
After the SNES though he completely stopped playing games out of frustration, angry about why they needed so many buttons. I don’t think he ever even attempted to play our N64, let alone later consoles.
I really hope the price point is accessible, I’d love to play games with my dad again.
Outside of this controller, if you and your dad have any interest in fighting games, you could check out Dive Kick - it's a two button fighting game, and they sell (sold?) a special controller with only two buttons.
Good products "for people with disabilities" are often just good products full stop.
Take for example Good Grips[1], a brand of cookware and kitchen tools. Initially designed as specifically for the elderly and people who otherwise have trouble gripping conventional kitchen utensils, it's become a bestselling brand in its own right (I own several things) because the products are just that much more ergonomic and sturdy than anything else.
Here, let me save you $50. It's the same principle, just a USB breakout box. But one better - capacitive input instead of just switches (of course, switches work too)
I had an online acquaintance who I practiced with in a fighting game called Blazblue. Said friend was also a martial-artist who also did live-steel fights. Dangerous, yes, but apparently there were rules about what weapons you could bring in, "first blood" and other such rules to try and keep things non-deadly.
Anyway, one of his opponents used poison as his weapon, and now his hands were permanently F'd up due to that one poison fight.
Long story short: I didn't see him online much after that. Its difficult for disabled people to get controllers that work well for them.
And its not just arbitrary fights where people can lose the fine motor control of their hands. I know people who lost fine control after a bad car accident. (Fortunately, this one was temporary and after about a year, she got most of her motor control back into her hands).
So any research into allowing injured people to better play video games (a hobby I'm very much like), is a win in my eyes. I've got at least two people who've I've personally met who would benefit. Even with today's advanced medicine, its not guaranteed that motor control will return back to your hands if you are injured.
It doesn't even have to be injories; a stroke can easily cause pretty much unpredictable amounts of fine motor control loss in one hand or the other, and that can happen to anyone at any time.
When I was in junior high or highschool I made an SNES controller for my friend's mom who had limited hand movement due to a stroke. I made her a joystick from a piece of PVC pipe, two plastic spools, and a plastic case about the size of a cigar box for the base. The way the mechanism worked was I used strips of packing foam to center the PVC pipe inside the hole in the spools, and mounted 4 microswitches in a collar facing the PVC pipe. Instead of a big movement like a traditional joystick, it required only 1/8 inch "twitch" movements to close the microswitches, but was surprisingly precise & responsive considering it was made out of scraps and hot glue. (But then again I designed it to work with the limits of the materials I had access to, and "tuned" the placement of the switches as I built up the device.)
as someone with a visual impairment I am always amazed at how little we talk/learn about accessibility and its lack of inclusion in the tests of new products.
I like this "inclusive desing" term better though. (even though its the method to achieve accessibility)
It's market optimization. 99% of any new product's potential initial userbase does not have accessibility issues. Especially startups need to focus on getting the highest return on investment initially, before proceeding to smaller groups of potential customers. This is also why most new products are launched in the US first - huge market, no borders - instead of Europe where people have to deal with a few dozen languages and local laws.
I find it amazing that Microsoft can be doing this sort of thing, mean while, at the windows team they decided to change that windows taskbar sound control tool so that you now need to do “start->control panel->soundoptions” to change your primary source, rather than just right clicking the damn icon. One in a long range of terrible designs for windows.
How can a company simultaneously be so great and so terrible at usability?
From working with their products all the time, my suspicion is that there's some really great people working on a lot of the lower level stuff like the kernel, driver model, CLR, etc, but they're surrounded by an ocean of morons who can't even make a menu work reliably and a lot of executives who really wish the desktop was a smartphone.
In the same vein though, the Windows team added in an Eye Control accessibility option [0] allowing users to control the OS with just their eyes. So the answer here would just be that the teams are so large that they can make phenomenal decisions and also plenty of bad ones.
I'm okay calling myself a disabled person, personally. I have some pretty severe disabilities, in spite of which I stay employed and productive. I find identifying as disabled empowering, since it acknowledges the constant effort I put into my health and mobility.
I respect that others don't like the phrase "disabled people," since it's something they have rather than something they are. But there's not a consensus on what phrase to use.
"people with disabilities" was ~1990s "people-centered-language" linguistic trend. The current trend is "disability pride", not being ashamed of being called "disabled"
The original title says “people with a broad range of disabilities” so I agree with you, but only for that reason. I can’t stand the way that HN changes titles.
Otherwise, I’m not going to tiptoe around people and change my speech patterns because they might be offended by something that meant no offense to them.
[+] [-] dalbasal|7 years ago|reply
A controller is a UI paradigm, like the keyboard & mouse "desktop" paradigm. Serving a userbase that can't use a standard UI will lead to invention of new ones. This could easily lead to mass market products/features that people will want regardless of disabilities.
Particularly interesting (to me) are paradigms being developed for the blind, because they can't rely on displays. This is the same sort of problem as amazon echo, driving mode phones UIs and other products that need paradigms.
The key though, the key is that blind people are a "captive" market. They can't just use the display UI every time the voice UI sucks. This gives developer the opportunity to keep improving it until the number of use cases where voice UIs work better than display gets big enough.
[+] [-] elefantastisch|7 years ago|reply
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/design/inclusive
[+] [-] scarface74|7 years ago|reply
I also tried one of these - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Playstation-handed-Dragon-cont... - but could never get the hang of it.
I might try this. My son is very into video games and I would love to play with him again. The only games that I played with him when he was younger were fighting games like Tekken and Soul Calibur and a few simple beat em up games but the games he plays now are too complicated to play with one hand.
EDIT:
I'm still trying to figure out after watching the videos, how this works with one hand. They showed a guy who had cerebral palsy that affected his right side but they never went into details about how he adapts it.
Maybe they were just expecting the target market to know about assistive technologies? I've never used any so I don't know anything about them.
[+] [-] radiorental|7 years ago|reply
I'm riffing off the Ben Heck design https://www.benheck.com/controllers/ but I'm mounting the entire xbox controller on a $15 joystick and then wiring the analog 3dof sensor from the joystick into the xbox controller. So, with one hand, you have access to one origina thumbstick and tilt the entire controller to actuate the other thumbstick.
I've been eagerly awaiting this device from xbox. While it is great, it's just a breakout box, you still need to setup your inputs.
As a side note, are you aware of the class of devices such as the xim4 or the Venom X which comes with a mouse & nunchuck?
https://www.amazon.com/Tuact-Venom-Controller-Windows-PlaySt... (works with xbox)
[+] [-] OskarS|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] FreezerburnV|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] morsch|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] the_solenoid|7 years ago|reply
That goes into the things you can plug in to the back and usb, looks really flexible
[+] [-] nickthegreek|7 years ago|reply
check out thingiverse.com for freely available designs.
http://www.ablegamers.org/
[+] [-] Forge36|7 years ago|reply
A few comments below suggest an mmo mouse. I found a left hand version "Razer Naga left handed mmo ergonomic mouse", however I can't find where to buy it. Right handed MMO mice are more common and have different thumb setups. "Razer Naga Hex V2" is a good example.
Given a mouse you use an adapter to play on Xbox[1]
Looking at game pads I found "Fang Gamepad by Ideazon" which is ambidextrous. Unfortunately I can't vouch for console compatibility which limits gaming to mostly PC. [1][https://dotesports.com/hardware/news/best-xbox-one-keyboard-...]
[+] [-] remybach|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] myth_drannon|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nailer|7 years ago|reply
Interesting video with Nadella discussing this:
https://www.facebook.com/bloombergbusiness/videos/1547448801...
[+] [-] melling|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kelukelugames|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] namanyayg|7 years ago|reply
However, I feel these products don't reach the level of "lovability" other such products enjoy. I wonder if this is an execution or PR problem?
Either way, hope the Adaptive Controller enables a lot of people to enjoy video games and we see some interesting unconventional applications of it soon.
[+] [-] balls187|7 years ago|reply
Kinect didn't have much in the way of software, and the OTS stuff was clunky. It also followed on after the Wii, which also featured clunky software, also had tremendous 1st party support to keep it viable.
[+] [-] vanderZwan|7 years ago|reply
I'm left-handed, and I remember realising that without thinking, I had switched to using my right hand for the analog joystick instead of the left one. This was months after I got a Wii - it was so natural that I hadn't even noticed. I don't recall anyone ever giving Nintendo credit for this, but their nunchuck-controller was pretty much the first mainstream controller for a console that was fully ambidextrous.
[+] [-] wang_li|7 years ago|reply
While it's not a console as such, the Atari Lynx in the 1990s could be flipped over so that the joypad was on the other side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Lynx
[+] [-] donatj|7 years ago|reply
My dad has one hand, and only one finger on the hand he does have. He LOVED playing Atari 2600 and NES when I was a kid and I have very fond memories of playing games with him.
After the SNES though he completely stopped playing games out of frustration, angry about why they needed so many buttons. I don’t think he ever even attempted to play our N64, let alone later consoles.
I really hope the price point is accessible, I’d love to play games with my dad again.
[+] [-] vingiesel|7 years ago|reply
Understandable, since the n64 controller was designed for people with 3 hands.
[+] [-] watwut|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kingbirdy|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arkh|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] discussedbefore|7 years ago|reply
https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/accessories/copilot
[+] [-] sgtmas2006|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fredley|7 years ago|reply
Take for example Good Grips[1], a brand of cookware and kitchen tools. Initially designed as specifically for the elderly and people who otherwise have trouble gripping conventional kitchen utensils, it's become a bestselling brand in its own right (I own several things) because the products are just that much more ergonomic and sturdy than anything else.
[1]: https://www.oxouk.com/
[+] [-] Marazan|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] iicc|7 years ago|reply
That's incredible :)
It's USB, so this is going to end up being used for far more than gaming.
[+] [-] radiorental|7 years ago|reply
https://makeymakey.com/
[+] [-] zaarn|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dragontamer|7 years ago|reply
I had an online acquaintance who I practiced with in a fighting game called Blazblue. Said friend was also a martial-artist who also did live-steel fights. Dangerous, yes, but apparently there were rules about what weapons you could bring in, "first blood" and other such rules to try and keep things non-deadly.
Anyway, one of his opponents used poison as his weapon, and now his hands were permanently F'd up due to that one poison fight.
Long story short: I didn't see him online much after that. Its difficult for disabled people to get controllers that work well for them.
And its not just arbitrary fights where people can lose the fine motor control of their hands. I know people who lost fine control after a bad car accident. (Fortunately, this one was temporary and after about a year, she got most of her motor control back into her hands).
So any research into allowing injured people to better play video games (a hobby I'm very much like), is a win in my eyes. I've got at least two people who've I've personally met who would benefit. Even with today's advanced medicine, its not guaranteed that motor control will return back to your hands if you are injured.
And injuries can really happen to anybody.
[+] [-] InitialLastName|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] phaedrus|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tryonqc|7 years ago|reply
I like this "inclusive desing" term better though. (even though its the method to achieve accessibility)
[+] [-] Cthulhu_|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] staticelf|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eksemplar|7 years ago|reply
How can a company simultaneously be so great and so terrible at usability?
[+] [-] emptyfile|7 years ago|reply
Also this literally doesn't have anything to do with the subject of this thread.
[+] [-] AnIdiotOnTheNet|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ergomarky|7 years ago|reply
[0] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/garage/wall-of-fame/eye-cont...
[+] [-] bfrydl|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thomasfedb|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sterlind|7 years ago|reply
I respect that others don't like the phrase "disabled people," since it's something they have rather than something they are. But there's not a consensus on what phrase to use.
[+] [-] Cthulhu_|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gowld|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] therobotking|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] M_Bakhtiari|7 years ago|reply
And there's no guarantee it will last long before someone decides to be offended by that too.
[+] [-] hungerstrike|7 years ago|reply
Otherwise, I’m not going to tiptoe around people and change my speech patterns because they might be offended by something that meant no offense to them.
[+] [-] braderhart|7 years ago|reply
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