New Xbox Controller Could Open Whole New World to Gamers With Disabilities

Microsoft on Thursday introduced its new Xbox Adaptive Controller, designed specifically for gamers with disabilities. The new hardware can be used for game play with an Xbox One console or Windows 10 PC, and it offers Bluetooth plug-and-play compatibility.

It supports Xbox Wireless Controller features such as button remapping, and it connects to external buttons, switches, joysticks and mounts. Microsoft developed the Xbox Adaptive Controller to enable gamers with physical disabilities to customize their respective setups.

Microsoft partnered with several high-profile global organizations dedicated to providing accessibility to those with physical disabilities: The AbleGamers Charity, The Cerebral Palsy Foundation, Craig Hospital, SpecialEffect, and Warfighter Engaged. Microsoft developers also worked directly with gamers who have limited mobility.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller will be available later this year for about US$100.

Serious Control Panel

The inspiration for the Xbox Adaptive Controller was a 2014 social media post featuring a photo of a custom gaming controller made by Warfighter Engaged, a nonprofit organization that develops gaming controllers for disabled veterans.

It caught the attention of a Microsoft engineer, which resulted in a hackathon at Microsoft's 2015 Ability Summit, where the first prototype of a controller for people with disabilities was developed. Now, three years later, the final product is about ready for the market.

Unlike the standard unit that is held in two hands, the Xbox Adaptive Controller utilizes a flat yet compact design that allows it to rest on a table.

In the place of small joysticks that typically are controlled with a user's thumb are two round light-touch-enabled pads that players can use by rolling their palms on them or pressing with their hands. These offer essentially the same level of precision as the thumb joysticks on a normal controller, but they have an added option of providing an audible cue for another layer of sensory input.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller also features a standard D-pad, an Xbox power button, and a profile button that allows users to shift among several mapping options.

Where the Xbox Adaptive Controller offers serious flexibility is in its ability to work with other existing accessibility tools, including those that offer air-power input methods or foot pedals. These can connect to one the 19 3.5mm ports on the back panel of the controller. Each of these devices can be mapped to the unit, and can be modified on the fly without even pausing the game.

Specialty Controller

The Xbox Adaptive Controller is designed from the ground up to be a unique controller for those with special needs.

"Gaming -- and especially online games -- is an important outlet for people with disabilities," said Roger Entner, principal analyst at Recon Analytics.

"They can often interact with others without having their disability play a role in the interaction," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Particularly as we move to technologies like virtual reality, gaming can be one of the few ways a disabled person can step away from their disabilities, depending on what they are," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

"For instance someone without legs or missing an arm or most of their fingers can still play a video game -- if they have the right controller -- as well or better than someone who isn't disabled," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Any physical deformities are hidden behind the game avatar so the disabled person can, for a short time in game, experience what it is like to be treated for how they do -- not how they look," Enderle said. "Video games distract everyone from reality, and this can often be very important for someone struggling with the unfairness of a disability. So, combined, video games can be incredibly important to someone challenged by a disability."

Innovative Adaptations

To get this product to market actually may have taken some unique Microsoft on Thursday introduced its new Xbox Adaptive Controller, designed specifically for gamers with disabilities. The new hardware can be used for game play with an Xbox One console or Windows 10 PC, and it offers Bluetooth plug-and-play compatibility.

It supports Xbox Wireless Controller features such as button remapping, and it connects to external buttons, switches, joysticks and mounts. Microsoft developed the Xbox Adaptive Controller to enable gamers with physical disabilities to customize their respective setups.

Microsoft partnered with several high-profile global organizations dedicated to providing accessibility to those with physical disabilities: The AbleGamers Charity, The Cerebral Palsy Foundation, Craig Hospital, SpecialEffect, and Warfighter Engaged. Microsoft developers also worked directly with gamers who have limited mobility.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller will be available later this year for about US$100.

Serious Control Panel

The inspiration for the Xbox Adaptive Controller was a 2014 social media post featuring a photo of a custom gaming controller made by Warfighter Engaged, a nonprofit organization that develops gaming controllers for disabled veterans.

It caught the attention of a Microsoft engineer, which resulted in a hackathon at Microsoft's 2015 Ability Summit, where the first prototype of a controller for people with disabilities was developed. Now, three years later, the final product is about ready for the market.

Unlike the standard unit that is held in two hands, the Xbox Adaptive Controller utilizes a flat yet compact design that allows it to rest on a table.

In the place of small joysticks that typically are controlled with a user's thumb are two round light-touch-enabled pads that players can use by rolling their palms on them or pressing with their hands. These offer essentially the same level of precision as the thumb joysticks on a normal controller, but they have an added option of providing an audible cue for another layer of sensory input.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller also features a standard D-pad, an Xbox power button, and a profile button that allows users to shift among several mapping options.

Where the Xbox Adaptive Controller offers serious flexibility is in its ability to work with other existing accessibility tools, including those that offer air-power input methods or foot pedals. These can connect to one the 19 3.5mm ports on the back panel of the controller. Each of these devices can be mapped to the unit, and can be modified on the fly without even pausing the game.

Specialty Controller

The Xbox Adaptive Controller is designed from the ground up to be a unique controller for those with special needs.

"Gaming -- and especially online games -- is an important outlet for people with disabilities," said Roger Entner, principal analyst at Recon Analytics.

"They can often interact with others without having their disability play a role in the interaction," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Particularly as we move to technologies like virtual reality, gaming can be one of the few ways a disabled person can step away from their disabilities, depending on what they are," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

"For instance someone without legs or missing an arm or most of their fingers can still play a video game -- if they have the right controller -- as well or better than someone who isn't disabled," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Any physical deformities are hidden behind the game avatar so the disabled person can, for a short time in game, experience what it is like to be treated for how they do -- not how they look," Enderle said. "Video games distract everyone from reality, and this can often be very important for someone struggling with the unfairness of a disability. So, combined, video games can be incredibly important to someone challenged by a disability."

Innovative Adaptations

To get this product to market actually may have taken some uniqu