Thanks for z memories
It is wonderful to be able to tell the world about something I have been working on for almost 3 years. The Xbox Adaptive Controller is an Xbox Wireless Controller that can connect to external buttons, switches, mounts, and joysticks — giving gamers with limited mobility an affordable, easy-to-set up, and readily available way to play Xbox One or Windows 10 games.
For more information you can read Plugged In: The new Xbox Adaptive Controller will make gaming accessible to people with a broad range of disabilities. By Deborah Bach
This has been the greatest and most rewarding project of my career. Here are my favorite memories of the journey, as well as my heartfelt thanks to all the people who have given so much to get us to this point.
Here are some of my favorite memories from our journey
- Eating late night food truck pies with Ross Nelson at the Oneweek hackathon and then watching SGT Josh Price of Warfighter Engaged play against David Prien the next day with the first prototype.
- All the great lunches I’ve had with Matt over the years.
- Richard Ellenson taking the time before he left the Microsoft Ability Summit for the airport — to go really go deep into how the form of the device reflects on the people who use it.
- Collaborating with Erin Muston-Firsch and Patrick Wagner of Craig Hospital, their insight and experience opens so many possibilities.
- Listening to Ken Jones and Erik Johnson of Warfighter Engaged talk for hours with Leo Del Castilo and Sam Sarmast about the direction of the controller in the back room of the Inclusive Tech Lab.
- Discussing the details of a model with Bill Donegan and Barrie Ellis of Special Effect in a hotel conference room off the Brighton shore.
- Jenny Lay-Flurrie hugging a controller from the first build.
- Panos Panay telling the team that we should be proud that we had the determination and drive to make this happen.
- Hanging out on a Disneyland patio with Mark Barlet of @AbleGamers , getting his guidance, and then listening to his military service stories all night.
- Cherry showing me how she’d use the Xbox Adaptive Controller + gravity to play @ForzaMotorsport
- Solomon Romney saying that the Xbox Adaptive Controller is a love letter to our community.
Thank you so much to the people who made this possible
- The 2015 hack team: Matt ; Ross Nelson; Sam Sarmast; Shea Robinson; and Gaylon Blank
- The 2016 hack team that I was privileged to lead: Leo Shing; Chris Kujawski; Andre Sutanto; Christopher Harmon; Evelyn Thomas; Matt; Ross Nelson; Kris Hunter; Rachel Yang; Sam Sarmast; Flor Albornoz; Shea Robinson; Gaylon Blank; Alida Mendes; and Steve Frank
- The team that worked tirelessly to deliver it: Gabi; Afanti; Amanda; Andrew; Andrew; Angus; Anindita; Anthony; Ben; Ben; Bruce; Carl; Chaitrali; Charles; Charles; Charley; Chris; Chris; Corinne; Curtis; David; Evelyn; Flen; Fritz; George; Greg; Guangwen; Gus; Hamza; Heather; Jeff; Jeff; Joe; Junhong; Keith; Ken; Leo; Mark; Mark; Markus; Martin; Matt; Megan; Melissa; Mike; Nathan; Nelson; Nicole; Pamela; Paul; Richard; Robert; Rollie; Ross; Sam; Sam; Scott; Scott; Scott; Solomon; Srihari; Tao; Ted; Tero; Tiffany; Tim; Vasco; Victor; Victoriya; Vincent; and Willis
- Our amazing leadership that had the conviction to ensure that we delivered this to our gamers: Leo Del Castillo; Panos Panay; Dennis Meinhardt; Jenny Lay-Flurrie; Kris Hunter; and Phil Spencer.
- Thanks to Satya Nadella for telling me to “be the change I wanted to see in design”, and August de los Reyes for giving me the opportunity to focus on Inclusive Design for Xbox.
- The Gaming for Everyone team: Katy Jo Wright; Evelyn Thomas; Brannon Zahand; Tara Voelker; Rossanna Aranibar; Benjamin Williams; and Jessica Walter.
- The non-profit partners we could not have do this without: @ablegamers; @specialeffect; @WFEngaged; @Craighospital; and @yourCPF.
- Brilliant consultants, I now call my friends: Ian Hamilton; Barrie Ellis; John Porter; Caleb Kraft; Erik Johnson; Kaitlyn Jones; Ken Jones; Erin Muston-Firsch; Craig Kaufman; and Steve Spohn.
- The incredible Xbox partners building peripherals that will empower so many people: @LogitechG; @PDPgaming; @Quadstick; @AbleNetInc; @RamMounts; and more.
- Our wonderful Marketing & PR partners: Jen Martin; Navin Kumar; John Dyer; James Shields; Bree White; and all the people at Assembly
- The amazing members of our gamers with disabilities community that helped us work through the betas.
I am very grateful that my work at Microsoft can be driven by my devotion to our inclusive gaming community. We could not have done any of this without the passion and energy of gaming accessibility community. I hope we have built the device you always wanted. At Microsoft, Inclusive Design and Accessibility is an ongoing journey, please continue engaging with us and we’ll make great things together.
