Video games are a great way to live vicariously.
You can jump off cliffs, fly through the skies and be an adventurer.
For those with disabilities, video games can let them explore in a way they can’t in reality. It also lets them bond with friends and family.
But gaming technology hasn’t always been adapted for disabled people. Until now.
Paul Amadeus Lane knows a thing or two about gaming while disabled. An accident 30 years ago left him a quadriplegic, with no finger mobility.
He said that after his accident, his social circle changed and he began to feel isolated.
“Gaming can help with those social barriers out there, especially with social isolation,” Lane said.
And put us in an environment where we can have some enjoyment without being judged because of our disability.”
Paul Amadeus Lane, an accessibility consultant working with Sony Interactive Entertainment, is pictured here with the Access controller, a Sony device specifically designed for gamers with disabilities. Photo by Sony Interactive Entertainment
Another gamer, Grant Stoner, agrees.
“Gaming, for me, has always been a social activity,” said Stoner, a Pittsburgh native who has spinal muscular atrophy type 2, a neuromuscular disorder. “Because I’ve never really, physically, been able to participate in schoolyard events or sporting events or what have you, so I would bond with family and classmates through gaming.”
But gaming has often been difficult for people, with very little gaming systems that were accessible.
“Disabled people would have to be very innovative, and either design or create their own adaptive setups with like, different maybe 3D-printed objects or in my case, a Popsicle stick (to trigger the game controls),” Stoner said.
So when Sony Interactive Entertainment contacted Lane about a ‘secret project’, he was thrilled. Sony produces one of the top gaming systems, PlayStation games. While Microsoft had released an Adaptive Controller for their Xbox gaming system, PlayStation had been behind in developing the technology.
“I was really, really happy, because I didn’t think Sony would ever tackle something like this,” Lane said.
Alvin Daniel, the senior technical program manager for Sony’s Access controller, said the development team realized almost immediately that “no two people experience disability in exactly the same way.”
With the help of players and experts in accessibility, they worked to create a controller that would be adaptive to as many players as possible.
Sony’s new adaptive controller for the PS5.
“We did a really deep dive to try to understand what it was we wanted to help solve. And this came down to a very interesting insight: instead of looking at conditions, or impediments, instead, look at the controller,” Daniel said.
The Access Controller can be customized to meet nearly any need of a player with disabilities. Sony said another goal was to make the controller comfortable so the gamers could also play for longer periods. The device is circular and can be used with a swappable button and stick caps to help with a variety of different mobility needs.
Lane was one of the few lucky gamers who was able to test the controller out ahead of its scheduled release.
“I wasn’t able to play racing games because of just the dexterity that you needed with your hands and just how fast things are moving,” Lane said.
And then when I was able to try out Gran Turismo (with the new controller and), I was like, I can game and play racing games again!”
“I haven’t driven in over 30 years,” he said. “It takes me back to when I was driving.”
Being able to game well again, Lane said, has made his life fuller.
“Everything changes,” he said. “And the more you take away from us, the more isolated we become. Having gaming and having an opportunity to game at a very high level, to be able to do it again, it is like a reunion, (like losing) a close companion and being able to reunite with that person again.”
The Access controller will go on sale worldwide on Dec. 6, and for U.S. residents will cost $90.
For a look at how the new controller was made, watch below.
