, created through collaborative efforts with father and son team Andreas and Oskar Karlsson, is designed specifically for physically disabled players with limited strength and mobility. The launch of this controller not only marks the culmination of years of hard work by Andreas to search for an affordable and accessible controller for his son, but it also expands the market of accessible gaming tech., a neuromuscular disorder that progressively weakens muscles over time.
“The GameCube controller was the first controller we adapted,” Andreas says. “We mounted screws in the joysticks and buttons and added polymorph around the screws. By doing that we could increase the length of the joysticks so it was easier to grip, and the increased length of the joysticks reduced the force required to maneuver it—but at the cost of range of movement.
As games evolved without proper accessibility features and options, Karlsson struggled to discover tools that would allow his son to properly play. From adapters to eye-tracking devices, each piece of adaptive equipment failed to fully function and cost Karlsson hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
“That was when we geared up a bit and started to modify existing controllers and even built our own,” Karlsson says. “I honestly have no clue how much money I have spent on potential things that could have worked, everything from low-force joysticks meant for power wheelchairs to the Xbox Adaptive Controller. All of them were better than the previous options, so Oskar’s interest in games started to return.
This is great. Unfortunate it's not showing the right controller in the preview image. This is the more accessible one:
ElectricTechLife