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Natal Technology a Gift To the Disabled, Amputees

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-and-what-arms dept.

SlappingOysters writes "Natal could be capable of a lot more than was originally thought. Gameplayer has some information about how the technology will function in multiplayer, and goes on to reveal how it is intelligent enough to give full-bodied virtual movement to disabled gamers. The site had previously revealed that the Natal dev kits have been with developers for a couple of months, suggesting that the device may not be as far off as has been suggested by some media outlets."

18 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. That's Terrible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    First God gives these people a crippled body.

    Now Microsoft wants to give them a crippled video game system?!

    1. Re:That's Terrible! by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Funny

      You're right, I reckon they don't have a leg to stand on.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  2. And my dog by goombah99 · · Score: 4, Funny

    My cat keeps crushing my dog at video tennis. The gold fish like bowling.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  3. I'll believe it when I see it by QuantumG · · Score: 5, Interesting

    More likely the game will refuse to move your virtual arm/leg just as your disabled body does.

    In other words: Microsoft's Natal Adds Insult To Injury.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:I'll believe it when I see it by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Amputees develop coping mechanisms anyway; they do things in a different way, that's all. It's especially true with congenital amputees because they have never known the use of the body parts they miss, so they really aren't disabled at all. Most of them end up ditching whatever prosthetics their parents try to get them fitted with and do just fine without. See this for example. It's trickier for people who become amputees later in life though.

      Amputees have been playing video games for as long as video games have existed, and quite frankly, I think that Microsoft effort is a just a feel-good, look-how-caring-we-are marketing stunt.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:I'll believe it when I see it by McGiraf · · Score: 2, Funny

      congenital amputees?!?

      they have genes that cut off their limbs?

      wow.

  4. Possibly, but unlikely by Zerth · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Much like most game companies never bother to consider color blindness when picking their display schemes, very few will consider the disabled for motion control. Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri got a nice patch for that, though.

    And you probably know how many console games still force one layout or give you a few presets, despite it being relatively trivial to remap controllers these days. I imagine even fewer will allow you to change "swing your arm" to "twitch your nose" after spending weeks training the gesture recognition for arm movements.

    1. Re:Possibly, but unlikely by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Informative

      To be honest, you can't ask companies to consider *all* disabilities. I agree that, for instance, a ramp should be mandatory when staircases are present to access a building, because in that case, wheelchair-bound people just cannot access the building on their own. But color blindness is hardly disabling, it's merely an inconvenience.

      A friend of mine is color blind, and his solution for hard-to-see computer images was to disconnect the red VGA pin and reconnected it in parallel with the green. His display is truly atrocious, but apparently much easier to see for him and he likes it that way. Anyway, just saying, a bit of solder and 5 minutes may take care of all problems with video game colors for color-blind people, so I don't think video game companies should bear that burden really.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Possibly, but unlikely by MrMista_B · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "But color blindness is hardly disabling, it's merely an inconvenience."

      You're not color blind, are you?

      Yeah, thought not. I guess calling someone a hypocritical asshole is hardly insulting, it's merely an inconvenience. You hypocritical asshole.

      Smiley face! :)

    3. Re:Possibly, but unlikely by CyprusBlue113 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Tell that to the guy who has to interpret two different display colors at 2am on a generator status panel that appear to be the same temper of gray to him. (Real situation, fixed by some 2 cent cellophane)

      My boss is partially color blind, and it's been an experience trying to rework monitoring systems / internal UI's so he can gain the same meaning from a display that everyone else can. You just don't think about things like that when it doesn't affect you

      --
      a handful of selfish greedy people are no match for millions of selfish, greedy people -u4ya
    4. Re:Possibly, but unlikely by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Tell that to the guy who has to interpret two different display colors at 2am on a generator status panel that appear to be the same temper of gray to him. (Real situation, fixed by some 2 cent cellophane)

      So apparently, your company's special accommodation for its employee's disability is a candy wrapper and a bit of sticky tape. You prove my point.

      My boss is partially color blind, and it's been an experience trying to rework monitoring systems / internal UI's so he can gain the same meaning from a display that everyone else can. You just don't think about things like that when it doesn't affect you

      Fair enough. But is your boss able to drive? Does he need adaptations in his house? does he need a disabled parking placard because he can't walk far? Does he need nursing care? I guess not. He just needed a more convenient UI for himself.

      I guess in the end it comes down to what can be considered a disability or not. For instance, I can't feel half of my right hand because of an accident I had years ago. As a result, I keep dropping things, hurting myself, etc... but I don't consider myself disabled: I just wear a glove with a sticky rubber palm side when I work on delicate parts, a fireproof glove when I heat things up, and a "chain mail" glove (they are sold at scuba diving stores, for diving with sharks) when I work with tools that drill or cut and I need to hold the part by hand. I suppose I could have asked my boss to pay for them, but that's a bit much don't you think?

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    5. Re:Possibly, but unlikely by Zeussy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I am very extremely inclined to agree with you, my brother is partially color blind (I am not sure to what extent as it has never been bad enough to ask about) and he is a qualified electrician and for him its just a mild inconvenience. My mum had a stroke about 15 years ago and lost all control and sensation of her right arm, and a significant amount from her right leg, but has enough control to still walk with a stick.
      Now my brother lives a normal life, living a normal job, with 2 kids, 2 cars, a wife and a house. Who occasionally has difficulty telling the difference between 2 different coloured wires. My mum has had to change the way she does things for every part of her life, from getting out of bed, having a shower, to cooking and eating her meals, to driving a car. So to all the parents of this post who say some lame shit like "Tell that to my boss who is colour blind" well I will fucking tell him! It is pale in comparison to what my mum has to deal with, which is a mild disability to a lot of other disabled people.

      --
      Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game
    6. Re:Possibly, but unlikely by Fizzl · · Score: 2, Informative

      My father was color blind. Apart from buying atrocious outfits on his own, it didn't affect much of his life.
      Only thing that bothered him, was that he wanted to enjoy visual arts like paintings and tried some oil painting himself.

      --
      Bot Assisted Blogging
    7. Re:Possibly, but unlikely by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree that, for instance, a ramp should be mandatory when staircases are present to access a building, because in that case, wheelchair-bound people just cannot access the building on their own.

      Wrong. Wheelchair-bound people unwilling to sacrifice a small part of their dignity cannot access the building on their own. It is totally possible for most of them to scoot up and down steps on their arse. We have decided that is below their dignity, and therefore we should force owners of small shops to put in ramps for their benefit, even those shop owners don't give one tenth of one shit about serving them and have the legal right to refuse to do business with them for any reason.

      Mandating wheelchair ramps on public businesses and for access to public utilities is reasonable; hell, even mandating them on monopolies would be okay. Requiring them across the board is fucking ridiculous, but even that is not as stupid as complaining that a particular video game system might not be as usable if you're missing limbs.

      If we choose to live in a capitalist society, we must accept that markets only get served when there's money to be made.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. This is bad??? by Brianech · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For such a positive article, there are nothing but negative comments... Its good to see that technology made for gaming can in turn be used to help the disabled. For all the bad press games/gamers get, there is now something really promising that we can say came from gaming. Natal, if it turns out as well as they claim it will, is a impressive piece of technology. To reach a broad audience it will have to be affordable. Makes you wonder what the comments would be like had Sony, Apple, IBM or any other company for that matter had created it.

  6. rtfa, please, editors... by polle404 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I know, I know, i actually read tfa...
    it's all speculation, by an Aussie reporter, that it MIGHT be beneficial to disabled gamers.
    according to tfa, he speculates, that since it's supposed to work with partially obscured body parts, eg. swinging an arm behind someones back, it might also be usable to amputees.

    While i applaud the idea, I'd like to see it in action before we proclaim it our new controller-less overlord.

    I'm still waiting for the generic, computer/tv/dvd/ect. peripheral for remote-less control of electronic equipment in my home.

    --

    ~men are from earth. women are from earth. deal with it.~
  7. Points to gameplayer by interkin3tic · · Score: 2, Interesting

    TFA has a picture of adult hands holding a tiny premature baby, with the caption

    Where we're going, we don't need hands

    There's something disturbing about not only the caption by itself, but the combination that is brilliant.

  8. Re:Such pessimism... by interkin3tic · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, most of the comments seem to be jokes on disabilities. Which in many ways is worse...