Gaming for the Semi-handicapped?

[chr6]

Good friend of mine is in a wheelchair..Tonight was at his house and showed him a couple DODs things..he wants to play...

Problem....He broke his neck many years ago, and has limited use of his hands...he can use a computer, and a mouse, but more of a hunt and peck sort of way.....

I would think a joystick for his left hand may work ,if we bound the keys/buttons just right....or maybe a Large key pad.....I figure he could be an MG cuz their stationary most of the time....

Any Suggestions you might have would be VERY helpfull..I don't know where to start.....
thanks

 

[SophalotJack]

alot of those flight joysticks you see around at best buy are very customizable and have lots and lots buttons all over them.

It might be worth a shot to see if you can strap his hand down on one of those suckers and see how many buttons he can reliably and comfortably press.

Then from there, customize those buttons to whatever keystrokes he wants them to be.

You can always return the ones that don't work out.

Also, if he can move any other part of his body, like his feet or head.... work with that.

Those gas pedals they have for racing might be customizable for other keystrokes and such.

 

[Mutilator]

How limited of use does he have? No manual dexterity? Little?

Could always try my control setup...

Right mouse button = move forward
Left mouse button = shoot
Thumb button = move backward

A = strafe left
S = strafe right

3 fingers on the right hand and 2 on the left and he's basically set. Hands don't have to move much unless he wants to type to someone.

 

[fustercluck]

Hope you guys can figure out something, It would be really sad If I ended up in a Wheelchair and couldn't game. This could bring a lot of joy to his life if it works. I don't really have many ideas, a program called Joy to Key might come in handy, it will let you keyboard keys to a controller. That's all that comes to mind. Good Luck

 

[SophalotJack]

Look into voice macros as well. That would make for an endless amount of possibilities.