Natal Technology a Gift To the Disabled, Amputees

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."

Comments

That's Terrible!

[Anonymous Coward]

First God gives these people a crippled body.

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

Re:That's Terrible!

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

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

And my dog

[goombah99]

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

I'll believe it when I see it

[QuantumG]

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.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

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.

Possibly, but unlikely

[Zerth]

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.

Re:Possibly, but unlikely

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

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.

Re:Possibly, but unlikely

[MrMista_B]

"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! :)

Re:Possibly, but unlikely

[Zeussy]

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.

rtfa, please, editors...

[polle404]

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.