The charity organization AbleGamers has partnered with ATmakers' technology creators to develop the Xbox adapter, turning an electric wheelchair into a game controller.
The third-party accessory was first proposed by Steve Spohn, chief operating officer of AbleGamers, and it connects the Xbox Adaptive Controller to a wheelchair through a 9-pin port, turning the joystick controlling an electric wheelchair into a game controller.
Spohn told VG247: "The Free Wing Adapter is a great guy, and it was created in collaboration with AT Makers founder Bill Binko at an assistive technology show in Pittsburgh, PA." Spohn told VG247.
"Pittsburgh Penguins encouraged me to talk about games and how technology can interact with people in the disabled community. So I went to a talk where I saw someone set up XAC (Xbox Adaptive Controller) and talk to a group of people Talking about disability games. After I went to investigate, Bill immediately recognized me as one of the initial consultants for the project. We talked and he showed me some of the technology he built. Bill made a really cool controller, The controller allows Barbies on electric wheelchairs to be driven by Xbox controllers.
"After some conversation, I realized that he was exactly the opposite of what I was looking for. I don't want to use XAC to control a wheelchair; I want my wheelchair to control my Xbox with or without XAC. We discussed how to reverse the board, How collaboration came about. Bill was very efficient and skilled in this kind of thing. He had a prototype that could be in a few days. We did some testing and made some modifications until it worked well. "
The video above shows that Spohn uses the joystick movement of a wheelchair for the Rocket League game, and a single button (usually used as a gearshift lever on a chair) triggers the accelerator pedal during the game.
Freedom Wing Adapter will be offered through a grant program-you can register on the official AbleGamers website. Many Freedom Wing Adapters have been produced and are said to be in distribution. The charity is also currently working with ATMakers to publish assembly instructions for building their own adapters.
Spohn continued: "We decide whether to make this controller adapter, we don't want anyone to come up with the idea and apply for a patent and sell it to people at ridiculous prices." "We want to donate it and let the world make what they need As little money as possible. "
"So AbleGamers will distribute these adapters through our funding program. AT Makers, together with one of their student robotics teams, GRA-V, plugged the board into the device. Now we will all assemble them for free, Distribute to the world. In addition, we will list step-by-step instructions and designs on various engineering websites so that anyone with the ability to solder a few circuit boards can do this for about $ 37.
"It's an amazing technology, and I'm so glad we rolled it out to the world. What's really exciting is that people spend a lot of time and money adjusting themselves to sit down and get the most comfort on an electric wheelchair Degree and efficiency. If we can shift our energy to their game settings, why not? No need to look for new poses for pillows and other games that may require someone to be comfortable to play, this will give them the opti on to choose what they have already thought about Enjoy these virtual worlds comfortably. Their muscles already remember how to drive a wheelchair, so just transfer that knowledge to the video game of choice. "
Spohn said accessibility and gaming technology in the mainstream is "developing."
Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller, first opened to the public in 2018, is designed to serve as a hub for managing all other controllers connected to it, while also allowing Xbox One users to remap various features using the Xbox accessory app. For many, the results have changed lives.
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