Microsoft’s latest gaming accessibility play is an X-box controller with a built-in Braille Display
Microsoft has shifted all its focus in its accessibility in gaming. Microsoft has built an adaptive controller, which has been appreciated by a lot of gamers. According to the new patent, Xbox will be designing controllers for disabled gamers which will have a built-in braille display.
Gaming is comparatively harder for gamers who are visually impaired and this will be a perfect solution to all their problems. The difficulty of the disable gamers will not entirely be solved, but it will improve their gaming at a massive extent. We take on-screen dialogues and directions very lightly, but for people with low vision, this is a very big problem. Visually impaired people are known for using a screen reader so that they can interact and understand what is going on the game in a much better manner.
There are times when the screen reader destroys the experience of the game and playing the game is no more fun. The braille display will definitely solve this issue and let people enjoy the game the way they want to without any kind of interruption. Nobody likes a computer reading out texts in the middle of the game so people are really excited about the Braille display in the Xbox controllers.
The concept of Braille display accessories is not something which is new in the market. The problem with the accessories available in the market now is that they do not have direct support with the console since it is built by some third party companies. Microsoft has successfully demonstrated its patent and it looks very promising.
This patent for Braille display was filed last year but it was made public very recently. All the news was spotted by a tech site from Germany called Let’s Go Digital. Microsoft has not yet officially announced anything about the controllers. It is expected that this will be a surprise launch from Microsoft at E3.
People have also said that it since it is a patent it is not always necessary that Microsoft will be working on this display for their controllers. In the patent, it has been mentioned that the Braille Controller will be similar to the Xbox One controller except the back potion.
In the Braille controller, the back portion will stick out, which will be a display for Braille. The display will be dot matrix which will also be mechanically reproduced bumps. There will be a total of six paddles which will correspond to the six dot points. Users will be able to input text in the display without having to move their fingers. They will also be able to read all the texts and instructions through the display. It is expected that there will be some haptic feedback on the display to create a better user experience, but it is just a matter of time for people to figure out what Microsoft has in store for its users.
It is expected that the gamers will require some kind of metadata layer for any kind of conversation so that they receive clues. This will be a huge advantage for all the gamers who are disabled. Microsoft is now taking steps on how they will be able to improve the whole controller. It is expected that this move from Microsoft will encourage other gaming console brands to design controllers which will make the gaming experience easier for physically disabled people.
The E3 will be in June 2019 and it is expected that Microsoft will receive a lot of questions from the fans about the Braille controller.