I wanted to make in person gaming and Minecraft clubs at my HAF holiday camps more accessible, so thanks to funding from Sandwell MBC and Go Play Sandwell, earlier this year Iinvested in 4 x Smoothie buttons, a Quester Joystick and Switchbox from Pretorian Technologies.They mentioned on the phone back then about eye tracking software, but I couldn’t afford it, and assumed it would be eye wateringly expensive, so put to the back of my mind as something to work towards if we had a good summer commercially!
I didn’t think about it for a few months, until speaking with a local Community group last week about this project, who asked me how children who couldn’t use a keyboard could play. I told them about the kit I had, but that for this project, its something that the children would need to have at home, or at your venues, to be able to access.
It got me thinking again, about what I could do to increase access and help individuals and groups who don’t have this tech, aren’t aware of it, and put off by the choice, tech specs and set up. I then entered an extremely rewarding internet wormhole as I typed a million different queries into Google to find out what kind of eye tracking software exists, how much it costs, how it used.
I gulped at the first I saw, costing £1495, PC Eye by Tobii
I spent a lot of time internetting and looking at the entire Tobii range. I do find it all confusing and my brain was melting. There is a range of more afffordable Tobii products, the Gaming Eyetracker and Headtracking range, with the latest model the Tobii 5 coming in at a much more manageable £237 with 15% off this weekend on top of that. But it looked like it was just for gamers, to support flight sims, racing games, not for assisted gaming. Unfortunately PC Eye was the one.
Much more internetting later, I came across Special Effect UK, an incredible charity specialising in helping physically disabled people, specifically children, play video games.
In a case of not all heroes wear capes, they’ve created EyeMine, FREE software to download specifically to enable players to play minecraft just by looking at the screen. And in wonderful news, it works with affordable eye tracking hardware. They’ve even provided a list of what hardware it’s compatible with.
So, I’ve purchased the Tobii 5 and can’t wait for it to arrive.
Do take a look at the Special Effect UK website. Their work is incredible and changes so many lives, and is free of charge.
If any families are interested in trying our the Eye Tracking software and Eye Mine, or the buttons and joystick, contact me to arrange a try out session so you can see if it works for your child before investing in any expensive hardware!