Finding gifts that accommodate both wants and needs remains one of the ultimate goals of the holiday season. Fortunately, assistive technology makes that search much easier.
As it does every year, INDATA will release the first episode of a two-part holiday gift guide podcast on Black Friday. In the meantime, here is a preview of a few products featured on the show.
Game Changers
A fitting example of a gift that’s both fun and practical is the Hori Flex Controller for the Nintendo Switch gaming console. For gamers with physical difficulty in using a standard controller, this product provides several large buttons and switch ports as alternative means for navigating through a game. For example, they can plug in a mouse or a joystick to play instead of pressing buttons.
To ensure this product’s quality, Hori worked alongside gamers with Muscular Dystrophy, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Cerebral Palsy and other physical challenges as well as medical professionals. Hori designed and developed the controller under the supervision of Technotool Co., Ltd., which specializes in products tailored to people with physical disabilities.
Another game-changer for gamers is the Logitech G Adaptive Gaming Kit for the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox.
Designed in partnership with accessibility organizations and compatible with the PlayStation Access Controller and the Xbox Adaptive Controller, the kit offers a wide variety of buttons and switches for users with physical disabilities. For example, the pressure-sensitive trigger (pictured below) functions like a gas pedal, allowing users to take action in a game without using much physical force.
As Easterseals Crossroads Vice President of Adult Services Brian Norton says on the podcast, this kit “gives more people a chance to connect, play and enjoy games together. It’s just a great gift for folks who have physical or motor disabilities who want to be more active in gaming.”
Customers are also raving. As one verified purchaser wrote on the Logitech website, “My partner is a quadruple amputee and still waiting for prosthetics while he heals. This kit has allowed him to play his favorite video games and get back to using the computer!”
Spreading Holiday Cheer through Music
As INDATA Outreach and Education Lead Nikol Allee highlights on the show, one gift that’s great for “creativity, self-expression and being involved in a group” is CMPSR, a disability-friendly joystick controller that makes musical composition and performance more accessible for players of all abilities.
When connected to the free CMPSR Swipe app, users can compose and play music using simple colors, shapes and arrow directions. They can also select the sounds of different instruments as well as background tracks and accessibility tools to control the music by swiping, tapping or even blinking for hands-free access.
CMPSR is currently available for demonstrations in INDATA’s adaptive lab as well as its Lending Library.
Another instrument is the Adapted Drum Toy (also available on loan), which users can activate with an external switch or the yellow button at the drum’s base.
“For a lot of younger kids, I think the clear benefit for them is the cause and effect experience that happens,” Norton says. “They press a button, they hear the music, hear the sound. This helps them build understanding, engagement and motivation. The setup allows users to participate in music for fun but also for therapy and education, and it can support creativity, sensory stimulation and social connection.”
While the drum is geared more toward little ones, the Arcana Strum is suitable for all ages.
“It’s an accessible guitar that’s very straightforward and easy to use,” says Josh Anderson, the director of assistive technology at Easterseals Crossroads. “The controls were designed from studying how individuals utilized a power wheelchair. And it’s made to be played by anyone with or without a physical or cognitive disability. It also allows you to connect different tools, including different handles and different keys, to make it more accessible in the ways that you might be able to physically manipulate it. But it also has something you can buy called an E-Box that enables it to be controlled by switches.”
A proximity sensor called the Air Strum connects to the E-Box and allows for non-contact playing via movement of hands, head, feet or wherever there is motion.
“So, essentially, they made an air guitar,” Anderson says with excitement on the podcast. “If you just move your hand, your arm or any part of your body across it, it gives you the same sound as if you’re strumming a guitar. I can’t wait to get to use it and play with it and see how it all works.”
These are just a few of the many accessible products discussed on the upcoming podcast. Stay tuned for the full episode before your holiday shopping on Black Friday, and be sure to listen to the second part of the gift-giving guide on Friday, December 5.
Hori Flex Controller photos courtesy of stores.horiusa.com.
Logitech G Adaptive Gaming Kit photos courtesy of logitechg.com.
CMPSR photo courtesy of digitmusic.co.uk.
Arcana Strum photos courtesy of arcanainstruments.com.
Discovering plant-based dining can be both enjoyable and good for your health. Dishes built around fresh vegetables, grains, and legumes deliver bold flavors and filling portions. Vegan restaurants https://mundovegannj.com/ offer inventive meals that make it simple to enjoy great food without animal products. These places support sustainability and conscious eating, showing that nutritious, tasty meals can be part of everyday life while benefiting both people and the planet.