SpecialEffect – Helping Everybody to Play

October 28th, 2010 at 8:37 am -

It’s easy to take certain things for granted. When you get home from a hard day at work, you stick on your 360 or PS3 and within minutes you can be enjoying a pleasantly unhealthy dose of escapism; killing aliens or crashing fast, expensive cars.

And all this is likely done from a control pad or, if you’re really modern, a motion controller. With little or no effort, you can visit distant moons, dark forests and desolate wastelands. Before long you will have forgotten all that the day has thrown at you.

But what if it wasn’t that simple? What if you couldn’t move your hands? If you were involved in an accident and all of a sudden couldn’t enjoy your favourite pastime, how would you feel? Come to that, how many people out there have been unable to play video games for their entire life – perhaps relegated to watching their brothers and sisters dominate their virtual enemies – and wish they could join in?

SpecialEffect is a charity that asks these questions every day, and seeks to find answers.

I have to admit, before the Eurogamer Expo earlier this month I had never heard of SpecialEffect. I’m a little ashamed to admit that, as an able-bodied 20 year old, I’ve often overlooked this sort of thing. I know I’m not alone.

So when I noticed the SpecialEffect stand at the Expo, I was surprised at what they were showing. Literally just behind all the stands showing off the Kinect, where people were dancing and playing games in which you would fill cracks in glass with your hands, you could play racing games with your eyes. These are the controllers of the future, the controllers that you hear about on news sites once in a while and then forget about because they’re far too expensive and never supported by any sensible developer. They’re never supposed to be available to test – here and now.

I know the Gaze control – using the eyes to control the action on screen – sounds like the sort of thing that could just about work if you were forced into it. It’s actually quite intuitive. Obviously, it’s a completely different experience from playing with a control pad – but it really works. I played F1 2010 and I can safely say I stayed on the track for some time longer than I usually do. I still didn’t manage a single lap, but the technology is amazingly precise. What sounds like a possibility, a gimmick that would enhance a few games for us. For some, though, it is the difference between being able to play a video game and simply watching.

And that is really what SpecialEffect are working towards, a time when people with disabilities will be able to play the latest releases just like everybody else. While I was playing, I couldn’t help but think that it was a mere 3 years since Assassin’s Creed was released without subtitles. If developers are willing to forgo such a basic feature, what chance is there that disabled gamers may one day be able to free-run through some ancient city?

My own cynicism aside, it’s excellent to note that developers are actually taking note of the work that the guys at SpecialEffect are doing. For the most part, these aren’t shovelware games that are made specifically the Gaze enabled technology, these are full games with well developed accessibility features that wouldn’t look out of place next to Call of Duty and Halo.

Of course, the EuroGamer expo was just one of the many places that SpecialEffect show off their hard work. In fact, they travel across the country to homes, hospices, hospitals and youth clubs to demonstrate what they’re all about and exactly what the technology is capable of and, hopefully, discover the needs of different kinds of people and to find the kind of information people want on GameBase.

To make it easier on parents and carers, SpecialEffect founded GameBase - a unique website that catalogues the accessibility of games and offers a community for those who want to learn more. Gamebase features groups for people using specific equipment, lists of the very best disabled-friendly games and a whole lot more. With experts on hand to answer any questions, it’s an important first step for anybody interested in helping their child or loved ones play games without having to stumble through multiple purchases before finding something suitable.

SpecialEffect love to educate disabled gamers and their families on their options, but it doesn’t stop there. SpecialEffect also set up the GameLab. Whether working with developers, creating new hardware or finding new ways of adapting the interaction within the software, the ultimate goal of the GameLab is accessibility.

For example, the picture above shows a modified Wiimote (Right), made lighter for a girl with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. It is this sort of work that the GameLab undertakes.

There are also ongoing projects with specific venues, for instance the ‘Game for Helen’ scheme that SpecialEffect were involved in. The project involved setting up a video game suite for the Helen & Douglas House – a charity and duo of houses that provide respite and end-of-life care to young adults. Not a pleasant job at times, but the lives of some of the children are no doubt made that much better by have access to interactive entertainment.

The future is busy for SpecialEffect. From setting up a library of the (very expensive) hardware needed to play some games so that people can try before they buy to continuing to work with developers on future games, SpecialEffect are there to tutor, guide and innovate. Give them your support, they deserve it.

For more information, check the SpecialEffect website, the GameBase website or email info[at]specialeffect.org.uk