Will Microsoft's Natal Be A Disabled Gaming Revolution?
When you hear motion controlled gaming, what are your first thoughts? You may think it sounds cool or you may just find it gimmicky but for many disabled gamers this gives them a glimmer of hope. This afternoon Microsoft unveiled Project Natal.
Project Natal will be an add-on device for XBox360 that can recognize faces, objects, which will let gamers play and even interact with video games using their body and voice recognition. In a demonstration of Paint Party, players could splash paint onto a wall by waving his/her arm, choose colors by voice recognition, and even make stencils by positioning their bodies.
The other quite interesting demonstration was a woman was able to interact with a game character named Milo by talking to him. During their interaction, Milo was able to recognize her emotions and even pass and use items with him using natural motions.
This could be a step forward for disabled gamers but as we remember from the big hype when the Wii came out appearances can be deceiving. Unlike the Wiimote there seem to be potential of this not being useless. There is no need for a controller, which should work well for those who have problems manipulating buttons.However, from what Microsoft has announced, so far wheelchair bound gamers may be left in the dark. The other issue is how many games is this actually going to work and work well with. Is this simply going to be for casual and party games or are they going to attempt to apply this to the more hardcore game?
One issue that has already being discussed on many of the social networks is the accuracy of the program. The software operates off of a device that has motion sensors in a Web camera like apparatus. The Wii and iPhone kept technology simple by allowing buttons to be pushed for a fast reaction time. What about those users with slow reaction time or people with Parkinson's and cerebral palsy?
We will have to wait and see exactly how much Microsoft took into account those with disabilities. The fact is all these questions cannot be answered until more info is released. We can only hope that this ends up being more useful than those that came before it.
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"This could be a step forward for disabled gamers but as we remember from the big hype when the Wii came out appearances can be deceiving"
No, it's a massive step backwards.
How can a controller that uses your whole body, be a step forward for people who dont have full use of their body?
I wonder... Eye Toy can be hugely accessible dependant on where you position the camera. Play is possible with just a finger on many games. This won't be the same so I really hope thought will be given to different players especially those without broad movements. I can see many difficulties - and I can see many potential solutinos. By the way - have you seen the amazing Lionhead demo yet:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8078322.stm
For me, on an accessibility standpoint I don't see this working for a lot of disabled gamers. It looks to take quite a bit of movement and steady movement at that. My first thought was, I can already see that this technology is going to leave out gamers that are Quadriplegics, have certain types of Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Parkinson's and many other conditions. Yes, it has voice recognition but interacting with movement is the main part of using this. I personally think that it would be a waste of money at this point in time.
I can see this going both ways. For some, like Dis talked about, I see this as a wash. For others, one handed gamers, or people with fine motor skills issues, but still have macro motor skills, this may be a win.
Like ALL issues, there is not a one size fits all, but I am glad to see that it has people thinking about it.
I have njoyed reading the comments. My perception, and what the heck do I know, is that the Natal will have a place, it is not the be all to end all...but it will surely be helpful in a rehab setting (especially because it is slow)....that is one of the primary problems with current off the shelf games- they move too fast, or have super fast action that requires super fast cognitive processing - making those games very difficult for someone with a mild brain injury or other debilitating diseases/conditions. Lastly, hopefully Microsoft will give us the SDK and since anyone can build games for XBox, we should see some cool things in the future!! I'm hopeful!!
I played a fighting game in the arcade that went off body motion few years ago. It didn't work that great and with out tracking balls or good lighting. I can't see this being that great. I think there is more hype then reality going on with this things but would love to be wrong. If I am wrong I think it will cost tons.
Microsoft could go the right direction with this. If they led game developers to ensure individuals could train each games to suit their abilities it might work out for some games. Imagine the driving game - if at the start you could set-up a profile to suit whatever gesture - voice control - facial expression you wanted to drive the car - you could open up the game to many more people. It could work out really well. But... will Microsoft be that forward thinking? Hope so.
ROFL, after watching E3 I'm glad to be a para and will not be able to use this stuff. That chick was on the couch with her hands out pretending to drive like I used to do when I was like ohh I don't know 4 years old, and her dad using the invisible impact wrench, together they qualify for the biggest tool award during E3 this year, well I don't know the guy that demoed Red Steel 2 for the Wii looked pretty retarded too, I have to say this E3 was the most comical presentation of a game expo I've ever seen. With PS3's new motion controllers I've not stopped laughing yet. I've almost went through a complete box of tissue just wiping tears away from laughter. Good luck able bodies .
So, I've been thinking about this all day...and I agree with One Switch...if the game can learn the player's movements and movement ability- then I think it could be quite powerful. When thinking about the applications of this game, I'm trying to keep a balance between leisure gaming and games for rehab...I look forward to getting it and seeing just how it works....hopeful, yet cautious!
I'm afraid I have to agree with Duck. I'm so tired of these cutting edge technologies that have yet to be proven being announced as if they are already proven. The truth is most of these technologies that involve using your mind or motion sensors are terribly inaccurate and relatively useless to most disabled patrons.
I'm sorry, I know you Berrie and some others remain hopeful for these technology but I think of this type of technology, the kind that will surely help the disabled community in the ways that we want it to right now, is at least five to 10 years away. I just can not imagine someone with muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis being able to suddenly play because a Web camera sensor can see our heads move.
Don't get me wrong I think this will be great for those of us that are simply paraplegic but for the model that is currently being shown, I could not imagine it being much more help for those of us that can not use a Wii
I feel Beariston and Ducks comments. Seems to me what you are more fed up with is Vapour Ware - something that MS are particularly good at doing and a comment felt across the web, e.g. "Have you ever noticed that when Microsoft makes a product announcement that people actually get excited about, it’s almost always for a product that isn’t scheduled to ship for a year or more? The Project Natal demo sure looks cool, but Microsoft has long ago burned through its “cried wolf†credibility for me. This thing is vapory even by Microsoft’s standards. Let’s see it when it ships." from Daring Fireball http://daringfireball.net/link...ject-natal
Ok first off I'm not saying I can't use it I'm saying I'm not lol, and on the PT comment, I understand that PT is good and I use to go to a outpatient rehab to lift weights and stuff and work out, but now I go to Gold's Gym with my brothers. With that being said and I know I'm gonna step on toes here but gaming to me is leisure and PT is work IMHO. Now if I wanted a game that was something that would make me sweat etc etc then I would go to a gym/rehab they have WAY more stuff there that would benefit me more then a game would. Gaming is fun and it's not meant to be played by jumping around in your living room like a ninja and sweating like a pig. Even if I was able I wouldn't buy this crap, it's too much work lol. Technology is gonna happen it's like death and taxes it's always gonna be there but this is way off in left field.
You remember back when they put the driving games in the arcades and you had to get inside the thing to drive and when you turned on a embankment the whole thing would turn? that was awesome stuff at the time, and that kind of tech is good, this is crap. Did you see the mat laying on the ground you have to use for the Natal system? who is gonna be able to lay that thing down and take it up all the time? I know I don't want to.
Just not my cup of tea I guess, and not my idea of gaming.
The excitment about this for me isnt so much about the product itself. Sure its going to work for some and not for others. It may be a great product or it may suck walnuts.
What is interesting is that this a quasi accessibility project thats offically been taken on by Microsoft. It is their first step in a new direction. Microsoft has one thing that many companies lack right now - money - and plenty of it. They also have the research resources and facilities to use. This project has the potential to become more.
We as a community have the oportunity to push them in the right direction with this. If they choose not to listen, then shame on them. If they do listen to our concerns and our needs, well we might just be able to get more people in the game or make things more enjoyable in general. Microsoft stands to make good money from this if they do right by us.
Above all, this is an opportunity to fascilitate change and one that we should all get involved in. It starts with Microsoft but if they are successful, then it will spread to other companies and that benefits everyone.
To me, its all about the potential and it has to start somewhere.
Cam, I would argee with you if i thought MS had actuallly considered the accessibility facror of rhis device. Let's wait to see what this can do before the excitement starts. Personsally, I don't want to jerk around like a idiot just to paint and break bricks. My spasms do that enough as it is.
I'd love it if you could use a combination of a JoyPad compatible controller and Natal with games in a versatile user-definable way. There's no reason why you couldn't train the microphone to recognise sounds then map these to controls (like the "Vocal Joystick": http://switchgaming.blogspot.com/search?q=vocal). You could then drive a car for example with just your voice.
If Natal is powerful enough (and I'm guessing so, as I've something on my laptop that does the same thing) - a person could turn their head to look around a game area - and perhaps raise their eyebrows for an extra function.
Allowing for a combination with the Joypad allows for switches to be connected too.
I'm wondering if Natal could pick up upon a reflective dot with any accuracy on a finger. This might offer another way to interact.
Being able to mix-and-match controls could be fun full stop. It could also open up games that are otherwise closed off.
Cam and Ackrin, While it is not part of the mainstream coverage, I think that MS did THINK about accessibility in the design.
Now that it is released I can say that they did PING Michelle and I about this before E3. We were not in the position to say much. Michelle is going to be going to Microsoft on behalf of us here at AbleGamers, and in her role as the GA-SIG Chair @ IGDA. They have invited us for some one-on-ones with eng, as well as 2 planned talks! So we should know a lot more in a month.
That said, this is all good stuff. The comments here should show MS that we are a community that wants to support them, as long as they try to support us.
Loads of Fun if you ask me.
Mark
"Disabled" is apparently too general of a term, to be used appropriately. What does it mean to be disabled? Everyone seems to have their own perspective on this, which seems to be causing some disagreement on whether this is "good" or "bad" for "disabled" people.
If you are in a wheel chair, with little stumps instead of legs, you are not playing any of the full-body games. Period. People that are trying to pretend like this is going to be some revolution for "diabled gamers" are being too general. I could see it if you had unusable hands, but were otherwise fine. ..then you're probably crying with joy.
The situations of disability are too varied to generalize about this being some sort of revolution. Microsoft will sensationalize it enough on their own.. don't do it for them, please.
If you imagine what could be - then this could be a real revolution. It offers the potential for a huge range of ways to play - especially if used in conjuction with the JoyPad (and as such any compatible alternative accessible controllers). Microsoft seem to be interested in learning more on what might help. It's a big deal to have their ear.
Games need to offer various ways to play - from as simple as being able to flip the controls to suit a left-handed or right-handed player - to taking into account people with very limited movement. It's all starting to look possible on a games console for the first time. It might not happen. But the exciting thing is that it might happen - even if only for a percentage of games. That would be real progress.
Some seem to be giving this a automatic fail before this even hits the shelves So, Let's just give the pessimism a chill pill & see what happens.
I’m not defending Microsoft nor any company for that matter here, but Companies are gonna stay quite cautious & hesitant regarding game accessibility if that type of attitude continues to prevail.
Sure, Games need to be made as widely accessible as possible, but since there’s so much variance in disabilities that it’s gotta be frustrating for companies.
I agree with Barrie, this could be a revolution.
I spend a lot of time instrumenting games to fit multiple input paradigms. Would love a world where a 'fit your access paradigm' wizard would run, then automatically hook up to the right inputs and controls so a player could play the very same games as someone else with wildly different access profiles.
Dreaming....
I think, like many things, it will depend on how well the Natal project lives up to its own hype. I think that motion detection is the future as far as interaction with computers is concerned, and I agree that it will be a massive step forward for disabled gamers, who are often ignored for the sake of the bottom line. However, it should be noted that Natal is not exactly at the level suggested by those Videos, it can be laggy, and like the Wii controller, isn't always as accurate as people would like, which leads to real problems with selecting items on menus etc. And voice recognition is still a bit of an uphill battle when it comes to accents etc.
I suppose part of the problem is the vast range of disabilities that people can have, from learning difficulties to motor skill related disabilities, things like Natal and the like can work well for disabled people, but companies really do need to sit down and actually think about what would help, rather than creating products for able-bodied people that will, through co-incidence, help disabled people.
I suppose part of the problem will always be profit-margins. Because the amount of disabled gamers is relatively small compared to the market in general, there is little interest in enabling them, and that, I think, is a massive pity.
@Lee
It would indeed be wonderful and, as a coder, I know that correct program design makes this far from impossible, that's why it's so easy to convert from XBox to PC, for example, despite the wildly different input techniques (Button-Controller to Mouse), I'm surprised and a little saddened that Software companies don't make access to those routines more accessible to end-users.
