After their success at Eurogamer, I thought it would be great to catch up with team at SpecialEffect and find out just a little bit more about what they do.
Q. What makes SpecialEffect unique?
SpecialEffect is unique in a number of key ways. Firstly, our approach is not just to find ways for ‘gamers’ to find ways of accessing video games, but to encourage anyone (even if they haven’t played a game before) to give it a go no matter how severe their disability. The second is our hands-on approach to working with individuals to find solutions for accessing games. Also, we work with even the most severely disabled people, such as those who are completely paralysed or who have locked-in syndrome, to do our best to help them to get the most out of games technology.
Q. What made you decided to go that one step further and start looking at games, not just basic computer use? What makes games so important to you?
Basic computer use is, of course, vitally important to daily life but, as all gamers know, games technology is also hugely important to people’s quality of life. As the use of accessible technology for games and creativity was such a ripe area for increased development, SpecialEffect was specifically created to help fill this gap and offer specialist information to people looking to use technology for fun in addition to its use for work and communication. Gaming is so important for people to enjoy competition, creativity and have fun. And all of these things, in turn, lead to more reasons to communicate!
Q. What kind of support are you getting from the games industry?
The industry has been fantastic. For instance, Eurogamer gave us a stand at the recent Expo at Earl’s Court to help us to get the message about accessible gaming to a wider audience. GamesAid, the UK games industry charity, has just given funding towards one of our projects for the second year in a row. We are making invaluable links with new people, such as yourselves, with a wide range of roles within the industry, on a weekly basis. Our hope is that this momentum will continue and we will be able to start working with more developers and publishers to make games more accessible whenever possible.
Q. At the moment, are there any rules about accessibility in games? What rules do you think there should be?
Due to the increasing awareness of the ability for games to educate it is possible that in the future there could be a legal obligation to make games accessible. In the meantime there are many things which can be implemented into a game to increase its accessibility. Things such as allowing controls to be remapped can, for some, instantly change a game from being completely inaccessible to being completely accessible. Options such as a range of speed and difficulty settings allow people of different levels to enjoy a game, whilst colour scheme or audio options can again be the difference between someone being able to play a game or not. The IGDA Games Accessibility Special Interest Group campaigns on this subject. For more information visit their site: gameaccessibility.blogspot.com/2010/11/gasig-top-10-ways-to-improve-game.html
Q. To give my readers an idea of what you actually do, can you give a brief overview of how you would go about setting someone like Matt (Matt Hampson, Patron of SpecialEffect and paralysed from the neck down) up with the racing game you were demoing.
With Matt, following his accident he was initially set up with an eye-gaze computer as he had little movement of his head. However, he wanted to improve on his neck movement and decided to use a headmouse, which involved placing a reflective dot on his head and using a camera and infra-red L.E.D’s to capture the movement of the dot and convert it to moving the cursor around the screen. Now that he has a way in to his computer we can match games software to the access technology hardware. In the game Live for Speed the developers put in a patch which allows people to set the parameters for the amount of cursor movement required to control the car. As a result, we could then alter the setting to allow Matt to have the best control over the car for him.
Q. Also, can you give an indication of the sort of cost involved!
Specialist Access Technology can be very expensive depending on the volume of manufacturing. However, if something works for someone and if it can make the difference between them being able to do something or not then it can be worth the expense. This is why through our different projects we aim to let people try this tech for free to see what works for them. They can then go and buy from the manufacturer and buy it knowing that it will work for them, without wasting money on things which might not work for them. This is why we are about to launch a “Video Games Loan Library ” so that people with disabilities can try out games and control devices before buying them from suppliers.
Q. What are you plans for the future, how far do you think you can go with the technology?
Our hope is that some of the special, very expensive technology that we have to use to enable some people to access games, such as eye-gaze, will be taken into the mainstream market. For example, if Apple or Microsoft were to implement gaze control into their technology then that would be of benefit to everyone – more fun for gamers and cheaper access to technology for people with disabilities. We believe that there is no limit to how far we can go with the technology and we are exploring all avenues – for example, Dr Mick Donegan, our Director, is an Advisor for a European project on brain control and has a few gaming ideas up his sleeve – so watch this space!
Q. Have you had any opposition to what you are trying to do or are people generally happy to be involved?
So far, I’m delighted to say that we’ve been completely overwhelmed by how positive everyone has been – especially gamers. In particular, it was a genuine privilege for us to be on the stand at Eurogamer and see the fantastic response of mainstream gamers. Sometimes, it’s not easy to try to explain the whole point of our charity to ‘non-gamers’ – but everyone at Eurogamer ‘got it’ – they understood exactly what we are about and why it’s so important. In fact, many gamers and people involved in the industry such as yourselves have stayed in touch since the Expo for a wide range of positive reasons, whether it be because they’ve come up with a fundraising idea or to help raise our profile or because they are a developer who wants to collaborate with us in the future.
Q. How can people get involved with what you do, how can readers help you?
There are things which your readers could certainly help with. Whether it is taking part in a fundraising event to help support our projects or contributing to our community site www.GameBase.info - every single person’s input can make a huge difference to a charity of our size. Next July we are organising a group of runners to run the British 10k in London dressed as their favourite games characters. We also have people organising their own challenges such as sky diving or taking on a gaming marathon. To contribute to our site you can visit our forums, create a review or simply contribute by letting us know of a game you have come across which might be accessible in some way. For information on either fundraising for us or contributing to our website please email info@specia
leffect.org.uk .
Q. So far, what do you feel is your greatest achievement as a charity?
It may sound a bit cheesy but our greatest achievement – the biggest buzz – is every single time we hit on the right technology to enable an individual with a severe disability to get more fun out of life through gaming, as it’s often the key to a huge ramp up in their quality of life, for example by socialising with friends and family and encouraging far greater self-expression. Seeing the impact of this first-hand makes you realise the importance of what we are trying to achieve. On a wider scale we are proud of the way we are raising awareness about accessibility to games and promoting the idea of ‘Game On for EVERYONE!’ – letting people know that there are ways for them to play no matter what their disability.
Q. Are you all gamers, if so what are you playing in your down time!!
Yes indeed, to a greater or lesser extent. During work hours I am having a go at anything and everything imaginable, but at home I am currently (and unimaginatively!) playing a lot of multiplayer Fifa 11, Halo: Reach and COD: Black Ops. Barrie Ellis, who works on our GameBase.info site and modifies hardware, is a bit of a retro fan, whilst our Director, Mick Donegan, plays nothing but Peggle using gaze control!
Many thanks to Bill, Donegan, R&D Coordinator, SpecialEffect
To find out more, head over to www.specialeffect.org.uk