Joy-Pros: A Gaming Prosthesis to Enable Para-Esports for Persons With Upper Limb Deficiencies

We present an investigation on game controller technology to enable para-esports. First, we present a review of the related literature on the information capacity of the human motor systems in pointing tasks and the evaluation of gaming controllers as pointing devices. Then we propose design criteria for controllers to enable para-esports in terms of target user, controller throughput, cognitive load, and comfort. Finally, we introduce the proposed controller with its rationale and functionality. We argue that the proposed controller is suitable to enable para-esports for persons with upper limb deficiencies because it enables bimanual control of video games like conventional controllers, and because of the achievable throughput and control dimensionality. The conducted experiments address the performance of the developed controller in terms of throughput and latency. A qualitative evaluation addresses the perceived usability, fatigue, and satisfaction of the users when using the prosthetic controller. We conclude that similar to para-sports, para-esports will have to be organized in classes that consider the game type and the type of physical disability of the athletes, and each class will require a controller suitable for its content and participants.