[games_access] Project Natal: Microsoft's Alternative Controller

[Barrie Ellis]

Natal doesn't need to suffer from the same problems as the Wii - i.e. Not 
being able to adjust what the Wii remote is expecting as regards how fast 
and how broad movements are is a real loss. Very rare support for 
alternative controllers to be used.

I could well imagine that Natal car game being controlled by expressions 
alone if needed. Maybe Microsoft will encourage developers to offer 
alternative ways to play - perhaps leant and stored as part of the Avatar 
system from the off to share between different games. It's early days - 
anything is possible...

How do we best get this message to Microsoft though?

Barrie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "will wade" <willwade at gmail.com>
To: "IGDA Games Accessibility SIG Mailing List" <games_access at igda.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 7:13 PM
Subject: Re: [games_access] Project Natal: Microsoft's Alternative 
Controller


> Its a interesting development.
> I agree - as it stands its not that potentially useful to
> children/adults with a lot of movement. What would be interesting if
> the technology could be used to look at a particular reliable movement
> of a person for a particular output - e.g. move a hand inwards at a
> certain angle in relation to the body, or a head movement to the left,
> and that produces a output just like a switch. Something like this is
> currently being developed by the inference group at Cambridge so watch
> this space..
>
> w
>
> 2009/6/2 Nathalie Caron <nathalie at gamefwd.org>:
>> Hi Barrie, and group:
>>
>> I watched the Microsoft presentation yesterday and while it has a lot of
>> potential to increase mainstream accessibility, I think there is some way 
>> to
>> go in order for it to be accessible to all.
>>
>> I can already imagine one of my friends, who argued the same point. He 
>> has
>> CP and is in a wheel chair with minimal hand coordination, has managed to
>> adapt to use a controller, but does not speak (unless using a voice 
>> device).
>> I don't think Natal would be able to recognize his facial expressions as
>> well, nor would it be able to find expressions in his synthetic voice
>> (thinking in reference to that interactive game with the little boy - 
>> Tobi
>> was it?)
>>
>> I think that if Microsoft was really serious about this, they would have 
>> to
>> look, perhaps into neurofeedback for those who do not have the means to 
>> use
>> their bodies, voices and facial expressions. Surely they have the ability 
>> to
>> implement something like this en masse.
>>
>> I don't know if they would consider that, or if they are satisfied by 
>> having
>> already "broken new ground"... I guess we will have to watch and see.
>>
>> Nathalie
>> http://gamefwd.org
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 5:14 PM, Barrie Ellis 
>> <barrie.ellis at oneswitch.org.uk>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Lots of potential for improved accessibility? But will it be realised...
>>>
>>> Microsoft announce Project Natal - gesture, facial expressions and voice
>>> recognition:
>>>
>>> http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/2009/06/microsofts-new-controller.html
>>>
>>> http://kotaku.com/5274317/microsoft-makes-you-the-motion-controller-with-project-natal
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
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