Sony has collaborated with accessibility specialists to create a PlayStation 5 controller designed for impaired gamers.

The Access Controller is a “highly customisable kit” with various buttons, triggers, and sticks that allow users to construct a setup that best meets their needs.

Microsoft’s Adaptive Controller, which works on both Xbox and PC, has been available since 2018.

However, this is the first device created particularly for the PS5.

“The idea is that you unbox it and you can start using it right away as a PlayStation controller,” Sony Interactive Entertainment Senior Technical Program Manager Alvin Daniel told the BBC.

“If this works for you and is comfortable for you, there is no need for you to buy additional third-party accessories and buttons and wire it all together.”

Sony Debuts First PS5 Controller For Disabled Gamers

“We wanted an all-inclusive kit in a box.”

However, building accessible goods is a tremendous effort because each disabled person’s impairment is unique, and gaming technology is constantly evolving.

Sony’s solution to this challenge is personalization, allowing each person to modify the solution to their specific needs.

Mr Daniel stated that the company had collaborated with accessibility experts AbleGamers in the United States to solve the problem.

“When they created their own custom solutions for different players, they would inevitably try to address three issues: thumbsticks, pressing buttons, or having to hold the controller.”

“If you have challenges in those three areas, this controller will help regardless of your underlying condition.”

All aspects of the Access Controller were built with the disabled people in mind.

Even the package is user-friendly, and the setup process, while occasionally clumsy, allows consumers to customize the controller to their specific needs and even create various profiles for different games or scenarios.

As a disabled gamer, I waited years for button remapping to become the norm so that I could play games that rely heavily on the trigger buttons typically found at the back of a regular controller and map them to a more accessible button.

This, however, was always a workaround rather than a solution. That is now a more accessible reality, thanks to this controller.

However, there are one or two design decisions that are, at best, perplexing – for example, it lacks a right stick, which is common on all modern controllers and quite necessary in many game genres.

I attempted to play Spider-Man 2, which featured a Deaf character and was virtually unusable. The only choices are to utilize the Access Controller alongside a conventional PS5 controller, which is a cumbersome setup, or combine two Access Controllers, which becomes costly.

Sony Debuts First PS5 Controller For Disabled Gamers

This tool, and others like it, are a step forward for impaired gamers. Its existence, as well as the fact that it was co-designed with and for disabled people, demonstrates that gaming accessibility is now a popular concern.

This is the beginning of the evolution of these types of devices, and manufacturers continue to iterate and innovate in response to feedback.

The grey line for presentation
The gaming industry has been pressed to offer accommodations for disabled gamers.

In recent years, racing sim Forza Horizon 5 added a sign language function, The Last of Us Part II offers a mode for blind and deaf players, and Just Dance has a wheelchair-friendly routine.

However, the hardware alternatives for persons with impairments have been limited, and Mr Daniel stated that Sony’s new controller aims to remedy this.

“I think particularly if you’re a young person today, gaming is such a big part of popular culture that you are socially isolated or you’re left behind if you can’t participate in the same experiences your friends or your schoolmates are doing,” he went on to say.

“We have seen that we bring joy to players who couldn’t play before.”

SOURCE – (BBC)

Are you adept at flirting or chatting up possible partners? If this is the case, you may already have rizz and be unaware of it.

Young folks utilize the Oxford word of the year, internet slang for romantic appeal or charm.

It was one of eight words chosen from a shortlist to define the mood, ethos, or preoccupations of 2023.

A public poll was used to narrow down the list before Oxford lexicographers made the ultimate selection.

Swiftie, Beige Flag, and Situationship were among the other contenders.

If you are not a member of Generation Z, the term may be meaningless to you.

However, it is widely utilized online, with billions of views of the hashtag “rizz” on TikTok.

Rizz Named Word Of The Year 2023 By Oxford University Press

It is described as style, charm, or attractiveness, as well as the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner, by Oxford University Press [OUP], which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary [OED].

The word “charisma” is assumed to be a shorter variant of “charisma.”

It can also be used as a verb, as in “to frizz up,” which means “to attract, seduce, or chat up someone.”

It’s essentially a modern version of the “game,” described as skill, proficiency, and the capacity to sexually entice people through one’s charm.

What do the shorlisted words mean?

Beige flag (n.): a character feature that indicates that a partner or possible partner is boring or lacks creativity; (also) a quality or habit, especially of a partner or potential mate, that is very distinctive but not good or bad. [proposed definition]

A situationship (n.) is a romantic or sexual relationship that is not formal or established.

Swiftie (n.): a devoted follower of Taylor Swift. [proposed definition]

Prompt (n.): a command issued to an artificial intelligence program, algorithm, or the like that affects or influences the content it generates [draft definition]

De-influencing (n.): the activity of deterring individuals from purchasing specific things or pushing people to consume less material goods, particularly through social media [draft definition]

The Oxford University Press emphasized that lexicographers are writing a draft definition “for the Word of the Year campaign” and that terms without draft definitions are already in the OED.

Rizz Named Word Of The Year 2023 By Oxford University Press

The rest of the words will be included in dictionaries “after assessment of their longevity, frequency, and breadth of usage,” according to the statement.

Kai Cenat, a Twitch streamer and YouTuber is widely credited with popularizing the term rizz, which he used with his buddies.

The word’s popularity has grown this year, and in June, actor Tom Holland was asked by Buzzfeed about the secret to his frizz.

Holland responded, “I have no rizz at all.” “I have limited rizz,” he says before detailing how he won his fiancée Zendaya over by playing the “long game.”

Another slang term characterizing “unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy” behavior that was last year’s Oxford word of the year was “goblin mode.”

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, stated that while “goblin mode” was popular following the epidemic, “it’s interesting to see a contrasting word like rizz come to the forefront.”

He speculated that the word referred to “a prevailing mood of 2023, where more of us are opening up after a challenging few years and finding confidence in who we are.”

Mr. Grathwohl said that the increased use of the word frizz demonstrated that words and phrases derived from online culture “are increasingly becoming part of the day-to-day vernacular.”

The language specialists at Oxford University Press chose the selection of eight words.

This list was then subjected to a public vote in late November, narrowing the field to four finalists before the experts decided.

Collins Dictionary revealed “artificial intelligence” as the word of 2023 in November.

SOURCE – BBC

Kiss concluded their “The End of the Road” farewell tour at New York City’s legendary Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

But, as die-hard fans know, they would never call it quits. Not at all.

The band’s current lineup — founders Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer, and drummer Eric Singer — departed the stage during their encore to unveil computerized avatars of themselves. Following the change, the virtual Kiss performed “God Gave Rock and Roll to You.”

The cutting-edge technology was used to tease a new chapter in the rock band’s history: after 50 years, Kiss is now interested in a type of digital immortality.

Kiss performed “God Gave Rock And Roll To You” on Saturday night to premiere the band’s virtual version.

Kiss Say Farewell To Live Touring, Become First US Band To Go Virtual And Become Digital Avatars

They have retired from the stage after 50 years to pursue a type of digital immortality.

The shows will be directed by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer’s avatars.

In collaboration with Pophouse Entertainment Group, George Lucas’ special-effects studio created the avatars.

These firms have already established “ABBA Voyage” in London, where fans may attend a full performance by the Swedish band’s digital avatars.

Kiss Say Farewell To Live Touring, Become First US Band To Go Virtual And Become Digital Avatars

George Lucas’ special-effects studio, Industrial Light & Magic, collaborated with Pophouse Entertainment Group, which ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus co-founded to create the avatars. The two firms recently collaborated on the “ABBA Voyage” show in London, where fans could watch the Swedish band perform a full concert – as performed by their digital avatars.

According to Pophouse Entertainment CEO Per Sundin, this new technology allows Kiss to perpetuate their legacy for “eternity.” He claims that the band was not on stage for the virtual concert since “that’s the key thing” with the futuristic technology.

“Kiss could perform in three cities on three continents on the same night.” That’s exactly what you could do with it.”

They performed in motion capture suits to create their computer avatars, depicted as a type of superhero version of the band.

source – AP