AbleGamers 'Expansion Packs' Bring Assistive Gaming To More People, And Faster
As an able-bodied person, its easy to take simple pleasures like playing a video game for granted, but for people with disabilities, playing a game can be an exercise in futility. Without special gear, they are sometimes limited to watching, rather than participating.
The AbleGamers Foundation is a charity dedicated to sharing the joys of gaming with people with disabilities that prevent them from playing with traditional controllers. For nearly a decade, AbleGamers has been providing specialized controllers and assistive technologies to disabled children, teens, adults and veterans. The foundation just announced a new program called “Expansion Packs” that seeks to provide everything a care facility would need to have a game room for its residents or patients.
The foundation said it has provided custom solutions to thousands of people, but it wanted a way to help even more people, and at a faster pace, which Expansion Packs is designed to do.
AbleGamers said it partnered with Humble Bundle, SteelSeries, Electronic Arts, Jinx and Corsair to bring the Expansion Packs vision to life. Each Expansion Pack will include video games and swag, and will feature “the best assistive technology and specialized controllers available.” AbleGamers said that it will provide assistive technology experts to install the equipment in each facility, and they will teach the local staff how to use the gear properly. The foundations said that it “will support and troubleshoot each location for as long as funding will allow.”
AbleGamers said that each facility installation will be unique, designed to cater to the needs of each specific location. The first Expansion Pack setup was delivered to Pediatric Specialty Care in Hopewell, Pennsylvania, a long-term living center for children and young adults with disabilities. The installation has been such a success that the company is looking to have an Expansion Pack installed at its Pittsburgh facility as well.
The second AbleGamers Expansion Pack is planned for a facility in Boston, Massachusetts, but AbleGamers didn’t specify which care facility would receive it.
If you would like to donate to the AbleGamers Foundation, please find the link to the donation page here. For inquiries about how to get your company involved, or about sponsoring an Expansion Pack, you can reach out to inquiries@AbleGamers.com
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Update 2/3/2016 12:36pm PT: Added link to donation page that was mistakenly omitted.
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Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.
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DrakeFS How have I never heard of the foundation? What an excellent idea. Anyone ever dealt with this organization before?Reply -
kcarbotte ReplyHow have I never heard of the foundation? What an excellent idea. Anyone ever dealt with this organization before?
Prior to writing this I had never heard of AbleGamers, but I shared the news with a friend of mine and he said he met these guys at PAX Prime last year.
Seems like a great foundation. My new favorite charity, that's for sure. -
alidan i think i heard of them before, if i did it would have either been through a humble bundle, or through ben heck.Reply -
Blatantruth Personally I really wish there was some way of using the tongue as an input device. Either a touch sensitive retainer or some kind of implant that would allow the precise tracking of the tongue. For people who really wanted to increase their input, they could split the tongue. This would of course benefit fighter pilots, astronauts and anyone else who regularly wears a helmet and has their hands occupied. Response times should be quite a bit better than anyone using their hand or foot to hit a button as well.Reply