What do Jim Abbot, Rick Allen, Abu Hamza and Captain Hook have in common? Well, they all have one hand and would love the latest Xbox 360 invention we found over on the Ben Heckendorn website.
(If you remember, Ben was the guy who did the awesome 360 laptop mod).
What is the invention? Well, Ben has come up with a 360 controller that you can use with just one hand. He introduced his project log (which we recommend checking out here) by explaining why he was doing it:
"I've actually always wanted to build some helpful devices for people with disabilities, I know that sounds completely different than the stuff I usually do (you know, like Xbox laptops and ghost documentaries) but I see it as an interesting challenge. Here was my chance!"
He goes on to explain that it was made at the request of a serviceman injured in Iraq.
Great to see it was for a good cause - at bit-tech, we are all for getting gamers with disabilities involved and it rather seems like gaming consoles make little or no attempt to include those with disabilities. Why is it that your local supermarket or cinema has to provide access for those with disabilities yet games have no requirement to do so?
To give you an example of this excellent piece of work here is Ben dealing with how to start the project:
"One of the biggest challenges, at least in the brainstorming "how I am going to do this?" phase was how to do the right analogue stick. Then I realized I could just put it on the bottom of the controller and reverse its wiring. You don't actually tilt the controller on the axis of the stick because that would be awkward. (Believe me, I tried). Instead you actually just move the whole thing in the direction you want for the right stick, and the analog stick then rotates against your leg. This is why you have to reverse the wiring, because the use of the stick itself has been reversed."
He requests at the end of the project for people to email feedback, so if you like/dislike this then why not let him know by dropping him an email at benjamin.heckendorn@gmail.com. I personally think this is a brilliant innovation and one that Microsoft should get their hands on and sell as a specialist product.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
(If you remember, Ben was the guy who did the awesome 360 laptop mod).
What is the invention? Well, Ben has come up with a 360 controller that you can use with just one hand. He introduced his project log (which we recommend checking out here) by explaining why he was doing it:
"I've actually always wanted to build some helpful devices for people with disabilities, I know that sounds completely different than the stuff I usually do (you know, like Xbox laptops and ghost documentaries) but I see it as an interesting challenge. Here was my chance!"
He goes on to explain that it was made at the request of a serviceman injured in Iraq.
Great to see it was for a good cause - at bit-tech, we are all for getting gamers with disabilities involved and it rather seems like gaming consoles make little or no attempt to include those with disabilities. Why is it that your local supermarket or cinema has to provide access for those with disabilities yet games have no requirement to do so?
To give you an example of this excellent piece of work here is Ben dealing with how to start the project:
"One of the biggest challenges, at least in the brainstorming "how I am going to do this?" phase was how to do the right analogue stick. Then I realized I could just put it on the bottom of the controller and reverse its wiring. You don't actually tilt the controller on the axis of the stick because that would be awkward. (Believe me, I tried). Instead you actually just move the whole thing in the direction you want for the right stick, and the analog stick then rotates against your leg. This is why you have to reverse the wiring, because the use of the stick itself has been reversed."
He requests at the end of the project for people to email feedback, so if you like/dislike this then why not let him know by dropping him an email at benjamin.heckendorn@gmail.com. I personally think this is a brilliant innovation and one that Microsoft should get their hands on and sell as a specialist product.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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