Virtual Video Games?

Imagine playing a video game without being able to move your hands–it's physically impossible. Robert Florio is trying to change that.

Florio has always been an avid gamer. The 25-year-old savors the intricate storylines of the Tomb Raider legends and is awed by the animation embedded in the Matrix games. He loves adventure games featuring characters that possess incredible abilities that are not notoriously difficult for the gamer to control.

But instead of lying on the floor pressing buttons with his fingers, Florio sits in his wheelchair and uses his mouth to play his favorite games. Using the Quad Controller, a customized controller fit with a mouthpiece, Florio advances through video games and controls the action by blowing into "sip and puff" tubes.

"It's still a struggle," the New Maryland resident says. "Games are designed for your fingers, for you to push multiple buttons at the same time. With my mouth, I don't have access to all those different combinations. I can't really sip and puff at the same time."

Florio is a quadriplegic; he lost use of both his hands and feet after diving headfirst into his best friend's pool when he was 14. Instead of giving up his passion for gaming, Florio has dedicated himself to creating awareness about the need for more accessibility in the gaming industry. He travels regularly giving motivational speeches and is an active member of the International Game Developers Association's Game Accessibility Special Interest Group. At this year's Game Developers Conference, Florio was chosen to judge an "American Idol" spin-off contest called "Accessibility Idol," in which five leading game designers competed to create a video game that would be easiest for a quadriplegic to use.

"There are so many games I can't play anymore, a lot of really good stories about espionage, about figuring out who the spy is," he says, rattling off a list including the Call of Duty games and Tom Clancy. "But the developers aren't interested [in making games accessible], because they say there isn't a big enough market for it."

If It Doesn't Exist, Build It
If the big name developers in the $11 billion video-game industry won't create accessible video games, Robert Florio will. In September, Florio will graduate with a degree in game art and design from the Art Institute Online, a division of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The online learning environment has empowered the 25-year-old with the ability to carry out his dream–making video games that are accessible to people with disabilities.

His work has much purpose, says Florio. Video games can serve as a creative outlet for the homebound or disabled or as useful tools within part of a physical therapy regimen. But in order to accomplish these goals, controllers need to be redesigned and storylines of the games modified to take user limitations into consideration.

"There are way too many buttons on games," Florio says, advocating for simpler controllers. "Even if people can use their hands, it's difficult to memorize the combinations necessary to play."

Florio has taken several courses in advanced illustration, story development, and 3-D animation. But it was a game development class that gave Florio the inspiration that he could actually realize his dreams of creating interactive games for people with disabilities. In that course, he worked with a team of fellow students to develop his own game modules. His professor, Jeannie Novak– a well-known game designer and author of several gaming textbooks–was particularly encouraging.

Without the advantage of an online program, Florio would never have been able to learn the craft and advanced skills needed to design video games.

"You learn a lot more working online, because you can't sit back and not raise your hand," Florio says. "Sometimes it's a little frustrating because there's value in having your instructor peep over your shoulder. But I learned to voice my opinions by articulating myself well."

For the past four years, Florio has been putting together an action/adventure video game. He won't divulge too many details, but says that in the game, an unsung hero saves the day by fighting evil and restoring peace to the world. The game has an added message: There's always a silver lining–even in circumstances that seem evil or bad.

"Being able to play a game in an accessible way makes it easier to experience the game," he says.

A Second Lease On Life
Before he learned how to play video games again, Florio taught himself to paint.

Two years after his accident, the resourceful teenager had a dentist craft him a mouthpiece so he could balance a paintbrush between his teeth. He set up a blank canvas in front of him and started painting–with his mouth. It took him nine hours to finish his first watercolor, a landscape depicting a bridge over water. The results were impressive–hands or no hands.

"Painting made me feel like I was in control," he says. "I lost so much control after my injury. Painting heightened my senses."

Video games provide the same outlet, he says.

"It's the immersive quality," Florio says. "It brings me into a different world. I feel like I'm playing baseball again, and running and jumping."

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