Gaming has evolved in many ways over the years. Today, more than 2 billion people are gamers around the world. Of course, this includes players like Shroud and Ninja but also includes players with many kinds of disabilities.
The Freedom Wing Adapter is created by charity organisation AbleGamers’ COO, Steve Spohn in collaboration with ATMakers, a group of tech enthusiasts and makers who concentrate on assistive tech. It is currently being given out to select individuals through AbleGamers’ website.
ATMakers, the manufacturer of the adapter found a company to make the circuit boards. This board will connect to take input from the wheelchair controller and feed it into the Xbox Adaptive Controller. According to the company, the circuit boards will sell for around $7. Apparently, gamers can build the whole adapter on their own for $35 with all the other required components. The organisation is yet to release the instructions. AbleGamers released a video showing how the adapter will connect to the wheelchairs. We can get a general idea of its working from this video.
While the adaptive Controller was made to help disabled gamers to gain the joy of playing games and join the gaming community, the Freedom Wing Adapter builds on that same idea. Also, this device is compatible with many power wheelchairs as the 9-pin port is standard for the wheelchair joysticks, according to Steve Spohn.
