grate i am going to take a look at this this is grate that some is thinking of us. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil Vlasak" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 3:11 AM Subject: [Audyssey] Video games' new frontier: The visually impaired -
> Hi Folks > I think this article is important enough for the blind community to post > it > in full: > Video games' new frontier: The visually impaired - > from CNN.com > By Steve Mollman > September 4, 2007 > > . Story Highlights > . New interactive music video game developed for visually impaired > . Nintendo Wii's Wiimote controller or keyboard used to play > . Developers hope game will also be played online by mainstream players > > Forget shoot-em-up addicts -- video games are reaching out to the rest of > us. > > The greatest symbol of this is the Wii console from Nintendo. Its > innovative > wireless control -- the Wiimote -- has even non-gamers excited as they > swing > it through the air to control, say, a tennis racket on the screen. > > Wii's Wiimote may play a pivotal role in bringing the visually impaired > into > the electronic gaming fold. > > But not quite everyone has been reached. One group is still largely > ignored > by video game makers: the blind. > > With that in mind, a team of researchers at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game > Lab in Massachusetts set out this summer to make a music-based video game > that's > designed for mainstream players and also accessible to the blind. > > Appropriately, perhaps, they incorporated the Wiimote into the game-play, > though it's optional. > > The resulting DJ game, designed for the PC, is called AudiOdyssey. In it, > players try to lay down different tracks in a song by swinging and waving > the > Wiimote in time with the beats. Or they can just use keyboard controls. > > The game reminded this writer of my lack of any rhythm whatsoever. I used > the keyboard version, where you're instructed to follow the beat by > hitting > an > arrow key. Miss a beat and you get an ugly sound. Things sounded pretty > ugly. But I did start to get a little better after 15 minutes and was > awarded occasionally > by crowd cheers. It's a fun game. And I got a kick out of it. > > So did 41-year-old Alicia Verlager. For her, though, the fun is a bit more > significant. She's visually impaired. > > "Play is one of the ways in which people build relationships," she notes. > "It's fun to take on the challenge of a game and take turns encouraging > and > laughing > at each other's sillier mistakes. That's the experience I am really > craving > in a game -- the social aspects." > > AudiOdyssey is presently single-player only, and there's no scoring > system. > But a multiplayer online version will be released in a few months. > Intriguingly, > players in this version won't necessarily know whether their opponent is > blind -- and it won't make a difference in the game. > > "Ideally, they shouldn't even know that it is designed with the visually > impaired in mind, since we want to make a 'mainstream' game," says Eitan > Glinert, > a 25-year-old grad student at GAMBIT and the lead researcher on > AudiOdyssey, > which is his thesis. > > That said, "after they find out that the game is designed to be > accessible, > it increases awareness," he adds. > > Though using the Wiimote isn't necessary, Glinert believes it's a more fun > and expressive option. From a development standpoint, getting the Wiimote > to > work with a PC game (it's meant to be used only with Nintendo's Wii) was a > considerable engineering challenge. > > And players who want to use the device will have to do a little extra > work, > as well, including linking a Wiimote to a PC wirelessly via Bluetooth > signal > (instructions on how to do this are included with the game). > > Verlager believes AudiOdyssey's use of the Wiimote makes it unique among > accessible games. It's also, as far as she knows, the first accessible > music > game > for blind players. A startup called All inPlay offers online games, > including poker, designed to allow play between blind and sighted users. > > For Verlager, it's important that games be mainstream and inclusive -- > rather than "special" and for blind players. > > "I really get frustrated with the way blind people are portrayed as if > they > live in isolation from the rest of the world and have no sighted family or > friends," > she says. > > Media, which includes video games, "is something people share and > participate in together, a way of building relationships and exploring > feelings and attitudes > about real life," she says. > > For now, AudiOdyssey is an "early concept prototype," says Glinert. But > "ultimately, we'd love to bring the game to consoles," he adds. "If we get > the chance > we'll definitely move quickly on that." > > The current version of AudiOdyssey is available for free at the GAMBIT > Game > Lab Web site. > http://gambit.mit.edu/loadgame/ > Here is the game direct download link: > http://gambit.mit.edu/loadgame/summer2007/AudiOdysseyinstall.exe > It is 120 MB in size. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the > list, > please send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. 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