How One Man Helps Keep Game Controllers Accessible

capedgirardeau writes with a clipping from the AP about engineer Ken Yankelevitz: "[W]ith the retired Bozeman engineer's 70th birthday approaching, disabled gamers say they fear there will be no one to replace Yankelevitz, who has sustained quadriplegic game controllers for 30 years almost entirely by himself. The retired aerospace engineer hand makes the controllers with custom parts in his Montana workshop, offering them at a price just enough to cover parts." Yankelevitz builds interfaces to control an Xbox 360 or PlayStation.

Comments

Consulting opportunity

[Dishwasha]

TFA: "Quadriplegic gamers now have around a dozen different actions they can work with their mouth."

Damn, I need a quadriplegic gamer consultant to provide training for my wife.

Re:Consulting opportunity

[davester666]

No problem. I will be happy to drop by and consult with your wife as to how she should best use her mouth.

For a reasonable weekly fee, I'm sure it will only take maybe six months to a year for her to master the techniques I have to teach her.

Re:Consulting opportunity

[PopeRatzo]

Damn, I need a quadriplegic gamer consultant to provide training for my wife.

That's strange, the guys from the Union Park basketball court and I think she's great. She does complain quite a bit about your performance, though.

Re:Why is a third party manufacturer needed?

[Samantha Wright]

Yes, but due to the dynamics of capitalism, they don't.

And this is what I call a Hobby.

[LWATCDR]

Really what a great and admirable hobby. This is a gentleman that must sleep well every night.

Re:How does he do it?

[eakerin]

He's not trying to complete on price w/ Microsoft; So there's nothing stopping him from buying an official controller for each one he builds to get the interface hardware. It just becomes part of the BOM cost.

Then he just has to replace the buttons and joysticks with ones that work for his end-users.

Re:Why is a third party manufacturer needed?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a quality of life issue, asshat.

Quads spend most of their time confined to a bed. A game controller build to meet their needs opens worlds of interactive entertainment to people who would otherwise be limited to passive consumption (television) or limited interaction via a visual keyboard.

captcha: network

And thats what these people gain: a greater network of human interaction. Shame on you for pissing on that.