"Final Boss"

$20 buys you a full version of the Gary J Lucken art work above with a chunk of profits being donated to various charities including SpecialEffect. They're limited edition so get in there quick if you like it.

Real Time Sensory Substitution

The video above shows the hurdles event in Kinect Sports made accessible to players who are blind, using a technique called real time sensory substitution. Using video analysis, visual cues that indicate when to jump are detected and then translated into vibrotactile cues provided with a Wii remote, which should allow someone who is blind to play this game without visual feedback.

I can see this system greatly assisting some learning disabled players in getting the timing of jumps right too. Fantastic stuff, with so many possibilities.

Read more at the SpecialEffect Accessible GameBase.

AbleGamers Foundation Holiday Gift Guide

If you are looking for some accessible gaming present ideas for Christmas, the AbleGamers Foundation have a very useful 2010 Holiday Gift Guide. They've cherry-picked a range of accessible video games, the fantastic Trabasack lap-tray/bag, a great iPad mount and a number of accessible gaming controllers. Well worth a look.

And if you'd like some more ideas, what about a "Final Boss" poster, something from the Accessible Gaming Shop or one of these fine accessible games.

I know I'm getting old...

...because all the new music I like is discovered either from adverts or my daughter (normally first heard blared through a wall or ceiling). Long loved Kate Bush, Bjork and Kate Nash's music. Latest in the line of quirky singers I've a soft spot for is Alex Winston, with "Medicine" and her Cambodia Rock sounding "Choice Notes". Thanks Hyundai!

For amusement only

Tim Hunkin is a national treasure. I first became aware of some of his work at the Southend Kursaal in 2000 when the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre exhibited the most left-field amusement arcade I'd ever seen. I remember coin-op machines that allowed you to get a phone message to Elvis Presley, a test-your-nerve against a slavering rabid looking dog machine and a bizarre frisking machine(!)

The machines were only there for a matter of months before they were gone. Turns out, many went to Southwold Pier to the Under the Pier Show, as I've found out today. Can't wait to go. Love this stuff.

Electronic Soup Podcast: EuroGamer 2010

The latest SpecialEffect Electronic Soup Pocast has just been unleashed as part of the November 2010 Access Collective. Amongst other fascinating things, you can find an interview with SpecialEffect founder, Mick Donegan, held at the mainstream gaming event EuroGamer 2010.

Should you pop over to the Accessible GameBase EuroGamer 2010 ESP post, you can read up on the accessible gaming gear we used at this fantastic show.

The Future of Christmas Lights

"Across Britain fairy lights are beginning to make an appearance as the nights draw in.

But in Derby they have been experimenting with new technology that leaves plastic Santas and flashing reindeer far behind.

Using banks of computerised lighting controls, streets and buildings can now seemingly be made to move, dance and even disappear."

Via: BBC News