Game Console Controller Interface for People with Disability

This paper presents an interface device allowing people with upper limbs disabilities to play with console video games. Typical console controllers are equipped with several push-buttons and joysticks often to be operated at the same time, thus becoming a real barrier. Some do-it-yourself solutions exist by adapting commercial controllers to special needs. But, this way, the video game control is totally left to the disabled and very often he is still not able to play the game with his residual functionalities. On top of that such solutions are not even marketable, being non-certified modifications of a commercial device. On the contrary, the system described in this paper is a completely new device connected between the original controller and the console. It allows the connection of the most suitable interface for the specific disability. Thanks to this device the specific interface acts in the same manner as push-buttons and/or joysticks of the original controller. Mapping external sensors functions to the original controller ones is performed by a simple and intuitive procedure. The kind and number of external buttons/sensors is decided according to the user's potential. The original joypad can be used along with the external sensors connected to the device, allowing collaborative playing between one or more disabled persons and another player.