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VOTW: Controlling Super Mario With Your Eyes

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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 All of a sudden, the quite-modern Wii looked outdated.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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24 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Xatos
    Sigh
    Reply
  • seanma0314
    Interesting use for someone like Quadriplegics
    Reply
  • IM0001
    People that might not have/be able to use their hands, might find this a bit promising perhaps?
    Reply
  • daship
    My son would benefit greatly from this.
    Reply
  • 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.
    Reply
  • rooket
    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.
    Reply
  • meatdraw
    my gaming buddies with muscular dystrophy will be interested in this.
    Reply
  • znegval
    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.
    Reply
  • kd0frg
    dumbest waste of time ever
    Reply
  • FloKid
    game over. Fail. I like the cyberchick though.
    Reply