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Make Life Accessible: Hello from Barrie from SpecialEffect.org.uk

Former Member

Quick hello to all the curious/definitely-getting-involved people in the "Make Life Accessible" design challenge.... Hello.

 

I'm Barrie Ellis, the technical specialist from the Accessible Gaming and Leisure charity SpecialEffect, based in the UK: http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/

 

For anyone interested in creating something that may assist people in leisure use, including video/computer games, feel free to drop me a direct message. Alternatively, just post on the forums where I'll try to get back as soon as I can along with the other element14 experts. There's a mountain of barriers out there ready to be levelled. Thanks for even considering to be a part of it. I'll post some ramblings here as this brilliant challenge gains momentum. Good luck!

 

Barrie 

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https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-80219?ICID=MLA-menu-item (front-end to the Make Life Accessible Project)

https://www.element14.com/community/community/design-challenges/makelifeaccessible/content?filterID=contentstatus%5Bpublished%5D~language~language%5Bcpl%5D (MLA Forums)

 

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  • in reply to gadget.iom

    I'm slowly getting to grips here! I'm double posting, but hopefully you'll get this more quickly if I do....

     

    Both would be great.

     

    Here's some thoughts for some barriers that are out there now in leisure that are tricky to overcome....

     

    1. Motion controlled games (Wii/Wii-U/PS3/PS4/Mobile).

    There are significant barriers for players if they're unable to carry out the physical actions required of the game. Think of someone paralysed from the neck down, amputees, people with reduced strength and so on.

     

    2. Age appropriate remote controlled vehicles/toys if you can only use one or two on/off buttons. Or perhaps a sip/puff device. There's not a lot out there apart from toys aimed at very young age/interests. Think adjustable difficulty levels from the slowest reaction speeds you can imagine to people quicker than you.

     

    3. Ways to make a play-ground more accessible (perhaps with add-ons / augmentation) and fun for kids of a broad range of abilities. The world's your oyster!

     

    4. Ways to make amusement arcades/fun-fairs more accessible. Ben Heck has done some lovely stuff in this vein with the likes of his one-handed pinball and arcade game systems.

     

    5. Ways to make existing sports more accessible (even if you have to bend the rules). There are automated bowling machines out there, but to my knowledge, nothing that will help with both aiming and rolling the ball for someone without the physical ability to do so. What about something like that for other sports?

     

    6. Maybe Raspberry Pi based all in one solutions for rolling dice, picking lottery numbers, running a bingo game, etc. no matter what your ability.

     

    7. Games for deaf-blind people.

     

    8. Machines for interacting with a pet.

     

    9. Creative art and music systems.

     

    Hope that's a little food for thought.

  • Both would be great. image

     

    Here's some thoughts for some barriers that are out there now in leisure that are tricky to overcome....

     

    1. Motion controlled games (Wii/Wii-U/PS3/PS4/Mobile).

    There are significant barriers for players if they're unable to carry out the physical actions required of the game. Think of someone paralysed from the neck down, amputees, people with reduced strength and so on.

     

    2. Age appropriate remote controlled vehicles/toys if you can only use one or two on/off buttons. Or perhaps a sip/puff device. There's not a lot out there apart from toys aimed at very young age/interests. Think adjustable difficulty levels from the slowest reaction speeds you can imagine to people quicker than you.

     

    3. Ways to make a play-ground more accessible (perhaps with add-ons / augmentation) and fun for kids of a broad range of abilities. The world's your oyster!

     

    4. Ways to make amusement arcades/fun-fairs more accessible. Ben Heck has done some lovely stuff in this vein with the likes of his one-handed pinball and arcade game systems.

     

    5. Ways to make existing sports more accessible (even if you have to bend the rules). There are automated bowling machines out there, but to my knowledge, nothing that will help with both aiming and rolling the ball for someone without the physical ability to do so. What about something like that for other sports?

     

    6. Maybe Raspberry Pi based all in one solutions for rolling dice, picking lottery numbers, running a bingo game, etc. no matter what your ability.

     

    7. Games for deaf-blind people.

     

    8. Machines for interacting with a pet.

     

    9. Creative art and music systems.

     

    Hope that's a little food for thought.

  • That sounds like an amazing organisation. image

    Are you looking for engineers to solve identified problems, or some left-field inspiraton?

     

    Keep up the good work,

    Paul