Abstract

Video games are often about being able to do things that are not possible in real life, about experiencing great adventures and visiting new places. Yet, as prolific as gaming is, it is inaccessible to a significant number of people with neuromuscular diseases who are unable to play games with traditional input methods like game controllers or keyboard and mouse combinations. While primarily used for entertainment in the early days, gaming now provides the possibility of countering social isolation and connecting with others through multiplayer games, online gaming communities and game streaming. In our work, we explore how facial expression recognition can be harnessed to provide quadriplegic individuals a way to play games independently and without complex mouth controller devices. We demonstrate our input interface with the design of a first person shooter game.