VOTW: Controlling Super Mario With Your Eyes
And you don't even have to get off the couch!
When Nintendo debuted the Wii, it was seen as a revolutionary approach to console gaming. Fast forward a few years, and both Microsoft and Sony have revealed their own motion sensing solutions for gaming. Though Sony's Move is quite similar to the Wii in that it uses a wand controller, Microsoft took a different approach, letting gamers use their bodies as the controller. All of a sudden, the quite-modern Wii looked outdated.
With the Wii already seeming a bit tired, it's hard to imagine even older Nintendo consoles getting a look in these days. Luckily, a group of engineers from Waterloo Labs in Austin, Texas, has come up with a way for Nintendo NES fans to utilize motion controlling, too. By attaching electrodes to the player's face, around their eyes and just under their ear, the guys and girls at Waterloo Labs have made it possible to play Mario with just your eyes.
Watch as they blink to jump and look in all different directions to control our favorite plumber. Sure, it's completely impractical (you need to be looking at the screen to play, don't you?), but it's still a really cool achievement. They also get a gold star for blowing on the cartridge to get the game to work.
Check out the video below!
Source: Waterloo Labs via Wired via Giz
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Sigh
Interesting use for someone like Quadriplegics
People that might not have/be able to use their hands, might find this a bit promising perhaps?
My son would benefit greatly from this.
I think it has no political at this point, it seems very disturbing moving your eye so away from the screen, look while the play each motion is so big and sharp, Ill get tired rolling your eyes over pretty quickly.
good way to over complicate a video game. that would be very difficult to control. kinda reminds me of kirby tilt n tumble on gbc. when you tilt the handheld away from you, you can't even see what you are doing any more.
my gaming buddies with muscular dystrophy will be interested in this.
Of course it's not practical from a gamer's point of view. However it's a nice little trick they did there and I see no reason for complaining it wouldn't work. Has the gamers population grown bigger in Tom's than computer enthusiasts? Might as well go all for graphics card and console news if so. I like this article.
dumbest waste of time ever
game over. Fail. I like the cyberchick though.
They reversed the directions. For example, rather than looking up to jump, you would tilt your head up and look down towards the screen. It's more natural for people who tend to follow the actions with their body, and it allows you to keep looking at the screen.
In Russia, Mario controls you!
with a couple more years i could see this technology helping alot of people..
I'd like to see that girl control super mario with her...eyes.
There goes my keyboard.
so i love how they blow on the SMB 2 cartridge, but are actually playing SMB 1.
They should make "jump" eyes down so that you can nod your head up to jump instead of taking your eyes of the screen.
They should make "jump" eyes down so that you can nod your head up to jump instead of taking your eyes of the screen.
They already did that.
Good use of old tech for the disabled.
Remember being 5 and trying to play super mario and when you'd jump you ended up moving the whole controller? Some of them were moving their whole heads, not just their eyes like they were supposed to. Too funny.
Great promise for the handicapped. And I find offense in everyone that says it's useless. Tell that to my friend who is permanently in a wheel chair, can't talk without a machine, and types on the computer with her nose because she has very low ability to use her appendages but is completely capable of moving her head and facial muscles. She's never played a "real" video game in her life because she can't... She was born this way. I'm sure she'd enjoy hours of Super Mario if she had it available to her at a reasonable price.
Lets not forget while it may difficult to play Super Mario this technology could open up gaming systems to the handicapped with games tailored to this control mechanism.
ok i can't think of anyone that lazy...
so what happens if you have to blink?
Cool if you don't have use of your hands, but sucks that you have to look away.
so what happens if you have to blink?
You jump, did you not see the beginning?