Future Generations Blog

The Future of Video Game Control.

Incredible Nerds Create Way to Play the NES with Eye Movement

I mean the term “incredible nerds” in the best way possible! 

Austin’s own Waterloo Labs (which consists of National Instruments engineers) have modified an original Nintendo system with custom hardware that allows the player to control the actions on screen with only eye movements.  An interview with Hunter Smith, the creator of Waterloo Labs, from earlier this week explains the reasoning behind such a bizarre project:

“When kicking around ideas, there’s really only one common thread: “It has to be awesome,” [Smith] said.

In Mario’s case, they initially wanted to do a mind-controlled experiment, but they realized that eye control was more practical.

And though controlling Mario with your eyes might not seem too practical, Smith said there are some real-life applications, like treating lazy eye, he said.

“You can now make something that was therapy into something that you have a lot of fun with,” he said.

Overall, the group has a few goals. They want to create awareness of some of the National Instruments products they work with, Smith said. But they also want to highlight the benefits of science, technology, engineering and math (or STEM) education.”

Amazing stuff.  Click the link for a video presentation that showcases the tech without having to read several dumbass “FAKE!!” comments from the Youtube mouthbreathers.

[Via Austin American Statesman]

Via hoarr/playerspulse