Sony Introduces a PS5 Controller for Disabled Gamers

With the aim of supporting disabled gamers, Sony partnered with accessibility professionals to design Project Leonardo, an extremely configurable PlayStation 5 controller.

In this Slogging thread, our community discussed about Project Leonardo and other accessibility products for people with disabilities.

This Slogging thread by Valentine Enedah, Sara Pinto, Marco Sullivan and Mónica Freitas occurred in slogging's official #gaming channel, and has been edited for readability.

Valentine EnedahJan 10, 2023, 2:11 PM

Sony Introduces a PS5 Controller for Disabled Gamers
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64176441

Valentine EnedahJan 10, 2023, 3:20 PM

This customizable PS5 controller, which includes a collection of triggers, sticks, and buttons, will improve the gaming experience for disabled gamers, resulting in more comfortable and longer periods of play. It is also built on over 28 years of design expertise, and the US-based AbleGamers and UK-based SpecialEffect are some of the various charities that have supported this project.
What do you think?

Sara PintoJan 11, 2023, 9:16 AM

Valentine Enedah, This is fantastic! It's about time we make games more inclusive and accessible. I believe this simple change will bring more independence and joy to disabled people. This is a win-win situation for gamers and the gaming industry.

Valentine EnedahJan 11, 2023, 9:40 AM

Sara Pinto True and one particular thing I love about Project Leonardo is the fact that it is a new gaming controller aimed to be customizable to the needs of any person.

Marco SullivanJan 12, 2023, 10:07 AM

Valentine Enedah This is quite insightful.
With regards to the pricing, would they make it accessible to people living in underrepresented communities like Africa?

Sara PintoJan 12, 2023, 12:12 PM

Valentine Enedah, I love how they are putting down barriers like this. This reminded me of Liftware. They created a spoon that makes a mundane task easier for people with tremors and mobility issues.

Valentine EnedahJan 12, 2023, 2:24 PM

Sara Pinto This is brilliant actually and solves a lot of problems with eating.
I also discovered RELYNC Scooter. It is a cleverly designed, folding mobility scooter, that can be easily carried on a train or plane.
Another cool thing is that it can connect to your smartphone's GPS and adapt to different road conditions, boasting a dual-brake system and top-of-the-line suspension for a safe and comfortable ride with a ring of LED lights on the dashboard as visual aids.

Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 5:15 AM

Marco Sullivan To be honest, I cannot say the prices are going to be subsidized. It will still fall along the current price range.

Sara PintoJan 13, 2023, 9:56 AM

Valentine Enedah, Seems quite practical! It would be great if one could carry it next to them on the plane. Unfortunately, I heard stories about people being careless with wheelchairs, the same way they are with luggage. The difference is that it's not just some clothes. This leads to lost wheelchairs, which costs the person's mobility and independence.

Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 10:03 AM

Sara Pinto Interesting perspective. It could have built-in features that could help users track the scooter. That should make it easy for it to be found even if it gets lost.

Mónica FreitasJan 13, 2023, 2:24 PM

YES INCLUSIVITY! I really hope this impacts sales for better so we start seeing more developments in inclusive technology across gadgets and gaming accessories. I'd love to see what people are saying about this. How the response from actual users has been, so we know how good the controller actually is.

Valentine EnedahJan 13, 2023, 6:40 PM

Mónica Freitas Yes, I can't wait for this. I haven't played the Ps5 yet but this is a very beautiful controller.

Sara PintoJan 16, 2023, 10:35 AM

So far, from what I've heard, people have to worry about buying tracking devices, such as Apple AirTag, so they know where their wheelchair is. They can't fully trust the airport's workers. If this scooter has a feature to track it, I think it would be incredibly useful!

Valentine EnedahJan 16, 2023, 12:03 PM

Sara Pinto Yes, this is so true!
This reminds me of an Airline company, Southwest Airlines that had issues with scheduling people's flights.
Some flights got cancelled and there's this particular family whose luggage travelled to their destination before them.
How they knew that happened was they kept Apple AirTags in their luggage.😂

Sara PintoJan 17, 2023, 11:23 AM

It's lowkey funny, but highkey worrying that we have to go through those measures to don't lose luggage, Valentine Enedah 😂

Valentine EnedahJan 17, 2023, 2:27 PM

Sara Pinto True and Technology is making it easy for us not to lose things.

Mónica FreitasJan 17, 2023, 8:01 PM

It really is! And it's about time! Gaming has so many years - how are only now seeing more inclusive alternatives?

Valentine EnedahJan 18, 2023, 2:27 AM

Mónica Freitas Well, it is a gradual process right but I found an article about other adaptive controllers and it is so cool: https://lifezest.co/adaptive-gaming-controllers/
You should check this out.