This summer, the CVGA hosted our first ever cohort of student residents! Each of the residents has composed a blog post about their experiences, which we've posted over the past week.
Our final blog post is from Joseph Heger, one (of two) residents who worked in the area of Adaptive Technology for Gaming:
Let’s advance adaptive technology further than where it already is.
By Joseph Heger
Moss, R. (2014). Why game accessibility matters. Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/features/2014/8/6/5886035/disabled-gamers-accessibility
Adaptive Technology & Usage of Gaming
Adaptive technology is a subcategory assistive technology that meets specific needs of a disabled user. Popular examples of this include screen readers, magnifying screens, and sip-and-puff systems, which allow people to control devices, such as motorized scooters, through “sipping and puffing” into a plastic straw-like device for those. As one might imagine, these systems can have steep learning curves that can be frustrating.
As a result, many occupational and physical therapists incorporate video games as one as part of their rehabilitation plan with their patients. Video games are not only fun, which encourage patients of any age to want to learn these pieces of equipment, but they are also low-risk as video games encourage people to make mistakes as they learn mastery, which allows individuals to not feel stressed out but engaged as they learn adaptive tech.
Need for More Accessible Gaming
While accessible gaming has obviously been advocated for in the past, it was only in the last couple of years that accessibility has truly started being embraced in gaming. Both Microsoft and Nintendo have developed an adaptive controller, with Sony recently releasing information on their own for Playstation. Additionally, certain adaptive controllers, such as the Xbox adaptive controller, can be used across platforms thanks to console tuners such as Titan, which further allow for adaptive gaming. Despite this, there is more work to be done.
Adaptive technology is still a retrofit, which means that it fits over and into pre-existing features of games and/or other technology. Even with the Xbox Adaptive Controller, I have witnessed Xbox games having issues or simply not working for AAA titles which were released recently enough that they conceivably should just work. As such, we need to continue to demand accountability and baked-in accessibility features which will allow for adaptive technology so disabled players can just play.
We have come a long way from those black and white, monostereo video games from decades ago. Equally stunning is how we have gone from no accessibility features to completely nuanced accessibility features, such as not only having sound options but even the option to visualize sound itself. Likewise, how advocates have pushed different industries deserves praise and companies like Microsoft have done amazing work in this regard. However, more needs to be done to ensure that all disabled individuals are included not only for prosocial benefits but also to give them an edge in learning these technologies. In the end, this is not just about gaming but also about being able to live without restrictions.