disability
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Students create affordable eye-tracking tablet for the disabled
Disabled users have long been able to control computers with just the flick of an eye, but those hardware and software packages are prohibitively expensive. Heck, the surprisingly accurate Tobii PCEye is a veritable steal at $6,900. And, while we can't vouch for its usability, engineering students at Brigham Young University have managed an impressive feat, by whipping up an eye-tracking Windows 7 tablet that costs under $1,500. The system was created as part of a partnership with EyeTech Digital Systems, which plans to market the devices in parts of the world where other eye-tracking solutions are unaffordable -- like just about anywhere the roads aren't paved with gold. We could even see a few able-bodied (but incredibly lazy) bloggers getting some use out of this -- mornings around here would be a lot easier if we could double-fist piping hot coffee mugs while typing with our eyeballs.
Tobii PCEye brings hands-free control to any PC, can't see eye-to-eye with Macs (update)
We were kind of shocked at just how well the Lenovo prototype laptop with Tobii eye tracking worked at CEBIT this year. It was, frankly, really good, and we're happy to say you no longer have to break into Lenovo HQ to try it for yourself. Tobii has released its PCEye, a USB device that uses a VESA mount to hang below LCDs sized between 15- to 20-inches. After a little calibration, it enables full eye control -- on Windows. Mac users will have to keep buying batteries for their Magic Mice because there's sadly no compatibility there. The main idea here is to help those who, due to stroke or other impairment, have lost some or all motor control, enabling them to compute just as well as anybody. However, we who are lucky enough to still have full control over all appendages can't wait to get one of these and play through every level in World of Goo without reaching for the mouse once. We will, however, have to reach for our wallets -- Tobii doesn't quote a price for the PCEye, which is rarely a good sign. Update: We just heard back from the company, and the price of the PCEye itself is $6,900, "with packages available for software and monitors." %Gallery-120585%
UK charity opens gaming visitor center / gaming gadget incubator for the disabled
Disabled gamers currently form a small, but growing portion of the gaming community, and the folks from the UK's SpecialEffect video games charity are seeking to get a lot more of them gaming. SpecialEffect -- with an assist from UK Prime Minister David Cameron -- just opened a Video Games Visitor Centre to give those with disabilities a place to experience cutting-edge gaming tech designed for the disabled, like eye-controllers, in its GamesRoom. The Centre also has a GamesLab where "games and hardware are tested for accessibility" so game devs can adjust their wares to get even more people dishing out pwnage than ever before -- bring it on!
Apple seeking new paradigm for educating students with special needs
According to a report from AppleInsider, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week disclosed a recent patent application for delivering educational content to students in a classroom setting. Filed by Apple in August 2009, under the title "External Content Transformation," the patent describes new methods for a host computer to deliver content to multiple client devices in a format that accommodates the individual needs of each user. Apple's concept aims to help educators address the diverse learning needs of every student in their classrooms. For example, a teacher could use Apple's technology to more effectively deliver the material for a lesson. Based on individual preferences, some students may see the content in a larger font size while their classmates simultaneously receive the same lesson as synthesized speech or in Braille. "A host device can share content with many users, without needing to do significant processing on the host device to accommodate users' needs and preferences," states Apple's patent application. Apple's patent highlights the concept's potential to address the specific needs of students with disabilities, including descriptions of new formats tailored to address the impairments of each individual user. Content would also be adjusted to suit a user's custom system settings or preferences.
Visceral Games hears disabled gamer, adding customizable controls to Dead Space 2
Spooky cathedrals, fun technology and lots of slimy necromorphs to dismember at will -- is there anything else you could possibly want in Dead Space 2? Well, Gareth Garratt, a gamer living with cerebral palsy, would like to see customizable controls implemented in the game. Garratt is trying to play the horror sequel on PC, partly by pushing a mouse with his chin, and is unhappy that he can't assign the "walk forward" command to a mouse button. Plenty of games allow for customizable controls, he says, so why can't Dead Space 2? Over 20,000 fellow players agree, and they've signed an online Internet petition asking video game publishers to make sure that all games offer customization for their controls. Here's the good news: Dead Space 2 dev Visceral Games has already heard them loud and clear. Executive Producer Steve Papoutsis tells Joystiq that a patch for the PC version of the game enabling full control remapping is on the way, and that "a number of folks on our team are so passionate about getting this fix done that they are currently working hard" on it. Papoutsis says the patch will fix a few other issues with the PC version, and that a release date will be announced "when the patch is fully tested." You can read his remarks in full after the break.
TankChair deemed too heavy to use on UK streets, disabled man becomes marketing boon (video)
While we figure that giant, tread-wielding wheelchairs have no trouble selling themselves, a disabled man named Jim Starr is helping them along their merry way -- a story about his TankChair being rejected for street use by UK authorities is giving the company plenty of free advertising. That's not to say that we don't feel for the disabled father of two, and hope he gets to use his snow-crushing, beach-mashing wheelchair in peace -- it's just not particularly surprising that a non-standard vehicle would be illegal to use on public roadways, and as you'll see in the video after the break (at roughly 5:30) the law doesn't seem to be restraining him any.
Drama Mamas: The case of the gold-selling guildie
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. I received the gift of massive drama for the holidays, which is why we went on an unscheduled hiatus. But that hiatus ends now. The promised roundup post will be next week, which means there is still time to get us the results of a letter we answered should you wish to be included. Just drop us an email at DramaMamas@wowinsider.com. In the meantime, we have what this week's letter writer calls a "dilly of a pickle." Dear Drama Mamas, I have a situation in my guild that I could use your advice on. I am a senior officer in my guild, and some troubling news came to my attention a few days ago. It seems that one of my guild members is selling gold in real life. He's been using guildies' cool downs and the other guildies' professions to make items to sell on the AH. Originally, I thought it was to make items for himself, but that turned out to be false. The dilemma is that he's been in the guild for a while. He was an original member, then left, and came back about 4 months back. The other thing is that he's not selling the gold on a website. He's selling it to his real life friends because he's on work disability and his disability money will not allow him to play WoW, so he supplements his income by selling his WoW gold. Thank you.
VerbalVictor app gives voice to disabled
With iTunes overrun with apps that do little more than find creative ways to promote products or otherwise suck time, it's nice to see mobile technology doing something that's, well, not so trivial. VerbalVictor, a $10 program, which should be available in the App Store next week, uses iPhone and iPad touch screens to allow people with disabilities to communicate with the outside world. Paul Pauca -- whose son suffers from Pitt Hopkins Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes delays in cognitive development, motor skills, and verbal communication -- developed the app as an affordable alternative to non-verbal communication devices. It touts functionality similar to the device used by Steven Hawking, but is far more accessible than the professor's $8,200 setup. VerbalVictor allows parents and caregivers to take pictures and record accompanying audio; the entries are then turned into buttons, which the user presses when they want to communicate -- sort of like a very advanced and customizable See N' Say. The device can be used for simple expressions, like an image of a dog that speaks "dog" when pressed, or for recording commonly used phrases and complete sentences. It may never reach the popularity of, say iFart, but it's sure to win some dedicated users.
Valve expresses interest in eye tracking, improving experience for able and disabled gamers
Valve is no stranger to experimenting with new ways of communicating and tracking data within games. Whether it's something as simple as closed captioning and customizable controls, or something a bit more niche like a colorblind mode, many of Valve's games have been celebrated for being more accessible. Mike Ambinder of Valve Software spoke with Gamasutra and explained how company's pursuits enables it to "improve the experience of both able and disabled gamers." In addition to previously documented research into sign language, Valve's Ambinder also expresses interest in "the potential of eyetrackers and the eventual ability to let gamers use their eyes as active controller inputs." With this method, you may be able to control a game completely hands-free ... without having to use your entire body as an input device. "It may be possible in the future to let the eyes act as a proxy for the mouse cursor, letting gamers transmit navigation and targeting inputs via eye movements. If you couple this approach with the use of blinks or other proxies for button presses, you may remove the need for a mouse and keyboard (or gamepad) all together," Ambinder added. While eye tracking sounds particularly ambitious, there are many other efforts in place by designers to make a game work better for disabled gamers. Read the full Gamasutra write-up for more.
Ablegamers releases shopping list for disabled players
If you are a disabled player or know one, you might need some help with your gift shopping. Well, worry no more: Ablegamers.com has compiled a pretty nice list of items for your loved ones! Let's say you want a great iPad mount -- well someone has made one. Perhaps you're really needing an old-fashioned joystick controller, complete with extenders and customizable buttons? Well, there's one of those too! There are literally millions upon millions of disabled people in North America alone. Of those, a good percentage are gamers -- or want to be gamers but have issues connecting to and participating in these wonderful games that we all love. Why not buy one of these items for the disabled person in your life? Or perhaps you could locate a stranger who needs the item -- just ask your gaming buddies. Don't be surprised when someone knows somebody else who could use something that appears on this list! Thanks to Ablegamers.com, some players will not be left out of the game!
Rowheel: the wheelchair you row to go
We like to joke about reinventing the wheel, but that's kind of what NASA engineer Salim Nasser has done -- he won a $20,000 innovation prize earlier this month for designing a wheelchair where the occupant can pull, thus avoiding repetitive stress injuries associated with pushing by using the (typically) stronger biceps and upper back muscles. The prototype uses a planetary gear system to drive the specially-designed wheels, which Nasser claims can be easily attached to existing wheelchair frames. There's no telling whether it'll see the mass market, but we wouldn't be surprised given the simplicity of the design, unlike some of the robotic models we've seen. So... how's that for a new spin on things?
Berkeley Bionics reveals eLEGS exoskeleton, aims to help paraplegics walk in 2011 (update: eyes-on and video)
Wondering where you've heard of Berkeley Bionics before? These are the same whiz-kids who produced the HULC exoskeleton in mid-2008, and now they're back with a far more ambitious effort. Announced just moments ago in San Francisco, the eLEGS exoskeleton is a bionic device engineered to help paraplegics stand up and walk on their own. It's hailed as a "wearable, artificially intelligent, bionic device," and it's expected to help out within the hospital, at home and elsewhere in this wild, wild place we call Earth. Initially, the device will be offered to rehabilitation centers for use under medical supervision, and can be adjusted to fit most people between 5'2" and 6'4" (and weighing 220 pounds or less) in a matter of minutes. We're told that the device provides "unprecedented knee flexion," and it's also fairly quiet in operation; under ideal circumstances, speeds of up to 2MPH can be attained, and it employs a gesture-based human-machine interface that relies on legions of sensors to determine a user's intentions and act accordingly. Clinical trials are going on as we speak about to begin, and there's a limited release planned for the second half of 2011. We're still waiting to hear back on a price, so keep it locked for more as we get it live from the event. Update: We just got to see the eLEGS walk across stage, and you'll find a gallery full of close-up pics immediately below. We also spoke to Berkeley Bionics CEO Eythor Bender, who detailed the system a bit more -- it's presently made of steel and carbon fiber with lithium-ion battery packs, weighs 45 pounds, and has enough juice to run for six hours of continuous walking. While he wouldn't give us an exact price, he said they're shooting for $100,000, and will be "very competitive" with other devices on the market. Following clinical trials, the exoskeleton will be available to select medical centers in July or August, though Bender also said the company's also working on a streamlined commercial version for all-day use, tentatively slated for 2013. %Gallery-104553%
Rat controls vehicle with its brain, Pinky and The Brain apply for 'one last run'
So, let's paint the picture, shall we? There's a rat, a bundle of electrodes, more wiring than an electrician would know what to do with and some sort of wheeled apparatus. In the background stands a team of crazed Japanese scientists, intent on never sleeping again until said rat controls said vehicle entirely with his mind. Nah, it's not a re-run of a WB classic -- it's real life, and it's happening now in a dark, shadowy corner at the University of Tokyo. The RatCar is a newly developed rat-vehicle experiment that researchers hope will open new doors for those with mobility issues; we've seen brain-machine interfaces change the lives of the disabled before, but giving them the ability to control their wheelchair with their mind (for instance) would be taking things to an entirely new level. As of now, the team still has to figure out how to accurately determine how much movement is coming from the rat's feet and how much is coming from its mind, but there's no question that the research shows promise -- just don't let the humanoids learn of our findings, okay folks?
Blind user explains why he loves the iPhone
Here's a wild little story that made its way around the blogonets this past weekend -- it was originally posted in June, but it got recirculated on Twitter, and we first heard it from Steve Troughton-Smith. Austin Seraphin is a blind person, and he says that getting an iPhone changed his life forever -- he considers Apple's iDevice to be "the greatest thing to happen to the blind for a very long time, possibly ever." Really high praise, especially considering that we've heard both good and bad about the iPhone in terms of accessibility. Seraphin's story is a great read, so I just suggest you head over to his blog and check it out. But why does he appreciate the phone so much? Apple's VoiceOver feature is a big plus -- it allows people without sight to browse and control the iPhone's touch screen using audio feedback, reading off messages and even checking things like stocks and weather all by translating it through the speaker. Seraphin even describes using a color picking app to use the iPhone's camera to "see" colors around him, with VoiceOver reading off descriptive names of the colors coming through the lens. That's pretty incredible, and something only the iPhone, with its extremely mobile combination of technology and UI design, can easily make possible. Seraphin still has an issue using iTunes, and not all apps are, of course, quite as accessible as Apple's guidelines ask them to be. But it's awesome to hear how Apple's approach to technology, combined with all of the various apps out there, can make a significant change in this man's life. In fact, last week he got himself an iMac.
Wii Balance Board used to create motorized baby buggy
Researchers from Ithaca College recently created an incredibly neat device to give a bit of mobility to babies who suffer from disabilities which keep them from crawling: A motorized chair which lets its infant pilot navigate using the Wii Balance Board. See, babies lack the motor skills required to maneuver a more conventional motorized chair, but this particular model taps into a baby's natural proclivity to reach for things they want, which registers on the Balance Board and steers the device. (The chair also has a remote control override, in case its occupant decides he or she wants to reach for a flight of stairs.) Check out an impossibly adorable video of this ingenious, pint-sized automobile after the jump.
Officers' Quarters: Pitchforks and torches
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available from No Starch Press. Wipes are a fact of life. Everyone wipes. How you deal with these situations can be crucial to your guild's success. Some guilds cultivate an environment based on blame, where everyone's first thought after a wipe is, "Who messed up?" Sometimes, it's easy to figure out who is at fault: Someone with a spore goes the wrong way, or someone gets mind-controlled by the Blood Queen after failing to bite his assignment. When it's not easy to figure out, some guilds use a different strategy for assigning blame. Here is one such case: I have a real dilemma. I'm an officer, one of six, in a semi-serious raiding guild. We have 30 core raiders who raid with us, and one of them until recently was one of our druid healers, and the issue surrounding him is my dilemma. A little background information on the guild, since it is relevant, is that we have a strict rule involving loot due to some people in the past who have abused our requirement for Vent in that they wouldn't use it, or they'd log in but leave their headsets off. This caused a lot of problems with wipes and caused the officers, GM and co-GM to agree that a rule would be made that was you must be in Vent and actively listening at all times during a raid in order to be eligible for loot. This is what caused the initial problem. The player of this druid healer I mentioned before applied to our guild and told us on the application that he is deaf.
Breakfast Topic: WoW as rehab
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. When my fiancée and I first met, we exchanged stories, talked about our career choices and what we've gone through over the years. After some time, WoW came up in our discussion. I explained to her how I first got started in WoW and how it has actually helped me quite a bit over the years. When I first started playing, I was recovering from a major surgery and was mostly confined to my house. You can only watch the same movies and read the same books so many times before you're bored with nothing to do. Enter WoW -- and everything changed. All of a sudden, I had a connection to the outside world. Not only was I talking to people from all over the country, but I was also making myself think. Every move I made had a consequence to some degree, and much like everyone else, I learned early on that murlocs are not your friend. Fast-forward nine months and I was cleared for work and school. I went back to work and started my fall quarter refreshed and eager to learn. People were asking if I had really had surgery, because they couldn't tell a difference. Unfortunately, I fell ill a year ago and was off work yet again. WoW was my saving grace (next to my fiancée, of course), and it helped me keep my head above water. I had a connection to the outside world, was able to talk to friends that lived hours away and wasn't sitting around the house bored out of my mind.
The nose knows... how to let quadriplegics move and speak (video)
We've seen quadriplegic transportation directed by brainwaves, speech and even the occasional Wiimote, but your best bet might be to follow your nose. Israeli nasal researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science unveiled a "sniff controller" this week, that measures nasal pressure to control a wheelchair joystick with surprising precision (see a video after the break) and a specially-developed typing interface. The latter is likely the more important advancement, as Discover heartwarmingly reports at the source link, by giving patients with locked-in syndrome (a la The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) the long-lost ability to speak. Best of all, the technology is inexpensive compared to alternatives on the market; while a Stephen Hawking-esque eye-tracking system can cost tens of thousands of dollars, Weizmann scholars reportedly pieced the prototype together for $358. The device is already being considered for public availability by the institute's technology transfer company, Yeda R&D -- find out just how it works in the full study at our more coverage link.
The Virtual Whirl: The secret sauce
Virtual environments evince a significant lack of mainstream adoption. Relatively tiny percentages of the world population are involved in them in any way online. There's something clearly missing. At the present time, virtual environments simply lack any compelling reason to exist that motivates mainstream users and might drive mainstream adoption. There's no killer app, or secret sauce that gets large numbers of people thinking "I want to get me some of that!"
Report: Industry missing out on revenue from aging, disabled gamers
According to a report coauthored by the Able Gamers Foundation and 7-128 Software, the game industry is losing out on up to $3 billion in revenue by failing to cater to older or disabled gamers. The report alleges that the gaming population is getting older, noting that the ESA pegged the average gamer's age at 35 in 2008, up from 33 in 2007 and 30 in 1995. It states further that more and more homes have access to game consoles and internet-connected PCs, opening the industry to a wide potential audience of older players -- players that are more prone to disability than the young. Finally, Baby Boomers -- those born between 1946 and 1964 -- have much more disposable income than younger demographics, adding up to billions in potential revenue. "If the gaming industry does not realign their priorities to include accessible gaming," notes the report, "then a collision will happen in the next five years," resulting in "lost sales and lost customers." The report proposes that game developers begin implementing accommodations for disabilities in their games, including variable font sizes, color blind modes, variable speed settings and more in order to cater to the disabled market. "By making video games accessible to gamers with disabilities, which includes older gamers," writes co-author Eleanor Robinson, "game manufacturers will unlock a lucrative, paying market of consumers for years to come." [Via The Escapist. Image: AbleGamers.org]
