Tobii Eye-Controlled Arcade Games: making gaming accessible
Tobii EyeAsteroids
Tobii are a world-renowned, field-leading vendor of eye tracking technology, a process that can revolutionise computing and now, gaming for individuals with motor disabilities. Enjoying arcade gaming can be made accessible with the installation of Tobii Eye-Controlled arcade gaming machines equipped with Tobiis trade-marked EyeAsteroids game.
EyeAsteroids is the only arcade game which is solely controlled by your eyes and without the need for complicated wires and connections between you and the game machine. EyeAsteroids is both fast and intuitive and makes gaming an extremely exciting experience for all.
Using your eyes as a game controller is an extremely different experience to standard gaming and allows users with motor disabilities to fully enjoy gaming the ways other can. Using gaze interaction in a gaming environment is extremely in depth technology and put basically, the game is programmed to understand your gaze in the same way people do. This is gaming on a new level.
The game itself is quite simple, like all good arcade games are and basically the gamers avatar is Earth and you need to defend yourself from in-coming asteroids by firing laser beams and bombs. It contains all the traditional, retro features you could want from an arcade game.
Tobii is the worlds leading supplier of eye tracking and eye control technology and their research has become integral to developing technology in many aspects of research, not just gaming. Theyre committed to innovation and their eye tracking technology has revolutionised research across many fields. As well as making gaming accessible, Tobiis technology has aided communication for thousands of non-verbal individuals who previously had no access to communication at all.
This video shows exactly how Tobii Asteroids works and how their technology makes arcade gaming a totally new experience:
Help Myles and his family, who are almost at their fundraising target.
We recently received an e-mail from Christine Sketchley telling us all about her inspirational son Myles and his charity appeal. Myles is a twelve year old wheelchair user who has a combination of conditions which can make daily life very difficult for him. He has Cerebral Palsy, Scoliosis, high muscle tone and is partially sighted,but he remains positive and happy and his family says that he is an inspiration.
Myles’ conditions have meant that he’s had over twenty operations in the twelve years of his life and this has resulted in him needing to use a wheelchair full time. Myles and his family had to make the difficult decision to have Myles’ hips removed so that he could sit comfortably. This means that his only way of exercising is in water and through hydrotherapy as, without hips, he is unable to weight bear. Unfortunatelydue to funding cutbacks, his school are only able to take him swimming once a fortnight.
However, Myles’ consultants have said that he regular daily exercise to be healthy. To help Myles have the opportunity to exercise, Myles’ mum Christine decided to raise money for a hot-tub at home and so that he can get thehydrotherapy he needs. They have already made a huge achievement and are ‘nearing the finish line’ to get it to the 10,000 target. In fact, they’ve received 7,100 so far thanks to a range of differentfundraisersand donations. However, the final cash is still needed and a local charity in Myles’ home town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire are helping out.
The Men of Sherwood Society are staging a race night at the Royal Legion Social Club in Hucknall on January 13th. During this night, there will also be a fundraising raffle with many great prizes (including of course a Trabasack!).We have also sent a Trabasack to Myles to so he can more easily enjoy his favourite games.
Myles the Trabasaxon!
We sincerely hope that the fundraiser will help Myles’ family along the way to their final target so Myles can exercise at his own pace with the support he needs.
If you’d like to buy a ticket for the fundraiser, donate to Myle’s hot tub appeal, offer up a prize for the raffle or anything else, please contact Christine on 0115 9632401 or leave a comment below and we will pass on your details to the family.
One of the oldest games that ill be featured at the SpecialEffect stand at REPLAY will be Minestorm for the MB Vectrex, originally from 1982. This cool vector-scan video game has modified so that it can be played with a single switch: Hyperspace.
Enjoy accessible gaming at Replay Expo 2011, a hugely popular and exciting retro video gaming exhibition which attracts people from all walks of life united by their love of video gaming in all the old nostalgic forms!
This year, its taking place on 5th and 6th November in Blackpools Norbeck Castle and its an event which should surely bring back memories of early gaming on Pac-Man to Space Invaders! Whether youre an ardent Playstation lover or prefer to stick to your Nintendo, you are sure to enjoy Replay.
Even more excitingly, especially for us at Trabasack and accessible gaming is the SpecialEffect stand which is offering fully accessible retro gaming at the event. All range of games from racing to one-switch dance mat games, you can thoroughly enjoy the gaming experience in an accessible and enhanced way!
Visit the SpecialEffect Stand for Accessible Gaming
At the SpecialEffect stand you can enjoy all your favourite games, play for fun, compete against friends or even try and win some of the
Use Trabasack as a level playing surface that holds adapted controllers securely with its velcro ready surface
sweets in the mini-challenges set by the stall holders! The stall will also feature Trabasack products which are obviously fantastic for accessible gaming use, perhaps to mount your gaming switch.
Trabasacks innovative lap tray surface is ‘velcro-receptive’ so that it can hold adapted controllers and switches securely. It is very versatile for mounting switches, joysticks or any type of controller and means that you can easily play any game you please from the comfort of your seat. If you want to you can use one of the longer supplied straps as bumbag strap around your waist and keep you controller and your Trabasack securely strapped to your lap!
An Able-Net "Big-Red" accessibility switch and a Trabasack.
Play a new one-switch version of the legendary Taito Space Invaders
Retro gaming is a huge craze which looks to remain popular as technology develops we love reminiscing about the old Ataris, Megadrives and other consoles of our childhood and teens. One of the oldest games that will be featured at the SpecialEffect stand at REPLAY will be Minestorm for the MB Vectrex, originally from 1982. This cool vector-scan video game has modified so that it can be played with a single switch: Hyperspace.
The oldest game will be the original Taito Space Invaders game from 1978.The team from the Replay SpecialEffect standhave made aversion that is one-switch accessible, including adding playing credits, choosing a one-player game and playing this ultimate classic game!
For full details of the event click the poster image below:
The Special Effect Accessible Retro Gaming Stand at REPLAY 2011 - click the image for more info.
Now launched it the versatility of the adroit switchblade looks awesome. Mark Barlet CEO of The Ablegamers Foundation describes it as a ‘game changer for people with disabilities’. Here is a video of Mark describing the new controller from the Joystiq site:
Said to be the most adaptable controller on the market, the Adroit Switchblade has 19 ports (11 reprogramable and 2 sets of 4 for the thumb sticks). It means that gamers can decide their own preferred personal set up. Any switches can be plugged in from light touch to muscle twitch to gumball in any configuration so that the best individual set up can be achieved. Another amazing feature is that any of the 11 slots can be reprogrammed as any button on the Xbox controller.
Adroit Switchblade "A game changer for people with disabilities"
Each Switchblade is supplied with lightweight and easy to operate, very small thumb sticks for directional controls, included too is a rumble pack for each one. Rumble packs being one of the favourite mods for gamers from Evil Controllers, the company who developed the Adroit Switchblade.
No need for Joysticks
For gamers who cannot use joysticks, each Adroit Switchblade comes with ports designed specifically for the directional movements. With this adaption you can now make thumb sticks yourself using the four switches in any configuration you choose. One suggestion is to mount four light touch switches around a central hub so that you can move the switches with both hands. There is a huge range of personal possibilities and unique set ups with this arrangement.
Switch Users
For switch users there is a special option called the Switchblade exclusive option. As switch usersknow there are usually only a few postions suitable for a switch. If you can only use a few switches at a time or you don’t want to spend a lot of money on different switches the Profile Option is excellent.
