Sharing his excitement was iZombie and SuperGirl actor, Rahul Kohli who tweeted “Those folks Xbox win my heart today with the announcement of an adaptive controller that allows users with disabilities to customise and tailor fit their controls in order to play. This should be an option that is available at any console launch, and while it is a little late, I am super happy seeing invest in accessibility with things like this Adaptive Controller. Co-creator behind indie-game studio Vlambeer, Rami Ismail tweeted “This should be an option that is available at any console launch, and while it is a little late, I am super happy seeing Xbox invest in accessibility with things like this Adaptive Controller.” Inevitably, gamers around the world took to the Internet to express sentiments of celebration and progress around the announcement of the new product. Never has an effort at tailoring the gaming experience for users who may be mobility impaired been made to this extent. Additional measures have been taken in transportation by airlines like Southwest and airports around the world to provide people with the disability services they may need.įor the first time, Microsoft is bringing an outlook of inclusion to the world of gaming via the Adaptive Controller. Since then, the operating system has grown to come handy with voiceover options for visually impaired users, assistive touch for those who may have difficulty touching the screen or require an adaptive accessory, and hearing aid and sound processors specifically for iPhone and iPad.Īside from mobile phones, domestic car companies like Toyota, Lexus and Kia have committed themselves to transportation accessibility by equipping their vehicles with motorized wheelchair lifters and even creating their own mobile apps for hands-on assistance for handicapped drivers. Since the beginning stages of the iPhone age, users saw Apple introduce accessibility programming with iPhone operating system 3.0 in 2012. While technology has undoubtedly made everyday life more simple, one market that has fallen behind the trend of making these kinds of amenities available for everyone is gaming. The technology company has touted the controller as an opportunity for “gaming for everyone,” regardless of ability. Nonetheless, when taken into consideration the opportunity to open up gaming for an entire community of users who have until now been neglected, “It becomes a no-brainer,” says Kujawski. The task required the team to start completely from scratch and rethink the packaging, functionality and ease of use of their gaming controllers. “Recognize exclusion, learn from diversity, and solve for one then extend to many.” This approach to expand upon their traditional hardware taken on by Microsoft has been a challenge within itself. “There’s three principles to inclusive design,” he says. The goal for the Adaptive Controller is to change that. One video gives a brief history of how the controller came to be, both conceptually and physically, while two other videos give an in-depth look at how the controller’s additional connection ports work and the other serves as an intimate introduction to the new controller experience featuring differently-abled gamers using the controller and explaining the logistics behind gaming while handicapped.Īs Senior Xbox Designer, Chris Kujawski explains in “Xbox Adaptive Controller: A Brief History,” there is a large audience of users who want to play video games, but restrictive hardware has historically blocked that ability.īryce Johnson, a member of Xbox’s inclusion design team adds that Xbox controllers assume that each user has two thumbs, one for each joystick, fully extendable index fingers for each trigger, and the motor strength and range of motion to be able to operate all of a controller’s buttons at high speeds. On the heels of the announcement, a series of YouTube videos have been released by Microsoft providing further insight into what the controller is all about. Not only does this provide easier navigation for handicapped users, but it opens up new possibilities in terms of community gaming by way of hosting multiple players and their own unique controllers on one platform. Additionally, a statement released by Microsoft says that the controller will feature fully programmable buttons and up to 19 connection ports for external switches, joysticks and buttons, giving users a fully customizable controller experience unlike any other in gaming.
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