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Modded Nintendo Lets You Play Mario With Your Eyes

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the ever-more-lazy dept.

hasanabbas1987 writes "A group of engineers going by Waterloo Labs in Austin, Texas created a way of controlling an original NES by simply moving your eyes. By using electrodes placed around the eyes to track the movement of a players eyeballs, they were able to jury rig a Nintendo to accept eye movement as controller input." Quite the production on the video (attached below) too.

19 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. Video games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now with even less exercise. That's right! No more tiresome finger muscle use.

    1. Re:Video games by ByOhTek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Consider paraplegics that might want to play video games, this would be great for them.

      Even without that, it's an interesting demo of what our tech can do, although I think this might have been available for a while?

      --
      Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
    2. Re:Video games by maxume · · Score: 4, Informative

      Its a minor quibble, but paraplegic specifically refers to someone who has lost the use of their lower body, they generally can use their hands.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    3. Re:Video games by erroneus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I am surprised it is taking this long for people to realize a simple reality of computer use. Repetitive use, regardless of the for it takes, causes fatigue and even injury over time. They thought they were helping when they created the mouse. Well, they did, but it only saved time over using the cursor keys on the keyboard. People still get repetitive fatigue and injuries when a mouse is used. People started using voice recognition systems and surprise, surprise, their voices became strained! Fatigue, pain and injury associated with video game controllers is something most of us know about. Changing the controller to something that uses the eyes and even face muscles will unquestionably result in fatigue and possible injury as well.

      As we continue to research the use of direct brain interfaces, we will find that this too will result in a form of fatigue and possible injury. There is a basic nature of the animal body that is continually overlooked. Repetitive use makes it tired and continuous fatigue results in injury. There needs to be a better way.

    4. Re:Video games by ByOhTek · · Score: 2, Informative

      Real men drink coffee as black as the heart of Corporate America, so the sig is irrelevant.

      --
      Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
    5. Re:Video games by fbjon · · Score: 2, Informative

      Non-dextrous?

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  2. Sounds awkward. by Yamata+no+Orochi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not sure I see the usefulness. Do you have to look at the right side of the screen to move right? Seems like that would obscure your ability to observe and react to things on-screen. Article doesn't seem to want to load, unfortunately. Is this innovative because of the eye-movement tracking? I thought that was already possible for years now. Seems like a weird thing to track to control a videogame character. Work on that brainwave reader instead.

    Now if they could -intercept- your eye movement signals before it actually reached your eyes, I could see applications in FPS games...Imagine staring statically at a screen that moved and turned based on where you WANTED to move your eyes, without your eyes actually moving.

  3. Re:Leisure Suit Larry? by Pojut · · Score: 5, Funny

    Talk about undressing her with your eyes!

    --
    Living With a Nerd
  4. Nevar Forget by yerktoader · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't care if they get Fred Savage and Jenny Lewis to make a sequel to The Wizard, I'm not saving up my allowance for six months to buy a goddamned Power Glove for my eyes.

  5. Re:Games for disabled people by DarkKnightRadick · · Score: 2, Interesting

    While I have no problems with making games accessible to those with handicaps, video games are a visual thing (as hinted at in the descriptive word "video"). How would you make a video game for a person who cannot process visual cues or input?

    --
    "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25 (NKJV)
  6. Re:Leisure Suit Larry? by ByOhTek · · Score: 2, Funny

    for porn!

    --
    Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
  7. They should pick up the pace... by underqualified · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stephen Hawking deserves to play StarCraft 2.

  8. Re:Games for disabled people by RivenAleem · · Score: 5, Funny

    I get the feeling I'm playing with disabled people all the time when I log into WoW

  9. Side effects? by that+IT+girl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you thought gaming for too long gave you headaches before, think about how this would be after a relatively short amount of time.

    --
    10 FILL MUG WITH COFFEE
    20 DRINK COFFEE
    30 GOTO 10
  10. Great... by mr_gorkajuice · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A control method that requires you to look away from the screen. The possibilities are endless indeed.

  11. Re:eye-tracking mouse? by flahwho · · Score: 2, Funny

    I keep wishing for a hands-free mouse. Taping electrodes to your face every day at work--won't, but glasses (or something using your webcam) might. Anyone seen something like this?

    I haven't seen anything because these annoying electrodes are glued to my eyes.

  12. Re:Games for disabled people by cgomezr · · Score: 2, Informative

    Fortunately, there are. Virtually all modern text adventures (or interactive fiction, as people like to call them now) can be played by blind people that use screen readers, like most programs that output text to a terminal or text area.

  13. Possibly Fake? by Becausegodhasmademe · · Score: 3, Informative

    In the NES is a Super Mario Bros II cartridge, however the game being played on the TV is Super Mario Bros I. If this part is faked, I wonder what else in this story is fraudulent.

  14. Waterloo Labs by pinkushun · · Score: 2, Interesting

    These guys are sharp and innovative. They're the same guys who used accelerometers on a wooden panel wall, and projected a FPS onto the wall, allowing you to play with real guns, air rifles, and even shovels.