Paige plays Minecraft – just by moving her head
Friday, November 20th, 2020
Gaming fan Paige, a teenager with dyskinetic cerebral palsy, uses a ‘headmouse’ to control her computer and speech aid. It’s a little unit that sits on the computer and tracks a small reflective dot on her forehead, essentially turning her head movement into mouse movement.
She was delighted to discover recently that by pairing her headmouse with our EyeMine software, she could fully access and enjoy Minecraft.
“We knew EyeMine worked with eye gaze technology but we didn’t know if it would work with a headmouse,” said her mother, “but we downloaded it anyway alongside Minecraft and left the PC running.”
“When I looked round, there was Paige busily using her headmouse to create a Minecraft world! After that, there was no stopping her.”
It’s enabled the freedom of independent gaming for Paige and she’s quickly become a talented player. But the family has realised that the impact of what she’s achieving extends beyond simply playing Minecraft.
“I can’t over-emphasise how much of a difference this has made,” said her father. “Particularly during the first lockdown, which was tough for Paige. She was missing her friends and teachers so being able to immerse herself so extensively in the game was a much-needed escape.”
“It’s benefitted her in other ways too: she’s been able to play completely independently for the first time, and it’s unlocked so much creativity and motivation. Her headmouse skills have also really improved through playing, and she’s now even more proficient at using her computer for writing, drawing and social media.”
We’re so glad that Paige has been able to dive into independent gaming so brilliantly and that the EyeMine/headmouse combination is such an all-round win-win. Thank you Paige for letting us share your story, and we look forward to celebrating more gaming progress with you in the future!
Below: The house that Paige built: A short clip of Paige walking around in Minecraft using head movement and ‘clicking’ by hovering the cursor over items and buttons for a fixed length of time (note the red circles that indicate this). The lower half of the screen contains a set of the EyeMine commands.