Since a few years ago, Sony has included accessibility features in their games, although they mostly serve the needs of those who are hard of hearing and visually impaired. The company is now working to make it easier for persons with physical disabilities to enjoy playing games on the PS5 system.
In a PlayStation Blog’s post, Sony announced Project Leonardo, which is a highly customisable accessibility controller kit that helps players with limited motor control play more easily, more comfortably and for longer periods of time.
Sony talked to accessibility experts and organizations such as AbleGamers, SpecialEffect and Stack Up and they came up with a highly customisable controller that integrates with a variety of accessibility accessories from third parties.
The swappable parts kit for Project Leonardo is comprehensive and includes a selection of analogue stick caps and buttons in various sizes and forms. With the help of these components, players can create a huge variety of control schemes. Additionally, the player can choose how close or far the analogue stick is from the game pad.
Any supported function can be assigned to a controller button, and several buttons can be assigned to the same function. Also, players can assign two tasks to a single button. For example, players can bind “L1 + L2” together and assign it to a button.
By pressing the profile button, players can quickly swap between their saved control profiles and programmed button settings. The player can save and access up to three control profiles from their PS5 console at any time.
Sony Interactive Entertainment designer, So Morimoto said:
Our team tested over a dozen designs with accessibility experts, looking for approaches that would help address key challenges to effective controller use. We finally settled on a ‘split controller’ design that allows near free-form left/right thumbstick repositionability, can be used without needing to be held, and features very flexible button and stick cap swapping.
Because players can customize Project Leonardo according to their needs, there is no one ‘right’ form factor. We want to empower them to create their own configurations. The controller can also flexibly accept combinations of accessibility accessories to create a unique aesthetic.
There is currently no release date or price for Project Leonardo because it is still in development.
Project Leonardo is similar to Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptative Controller, which was available since September 2018. The controller can be used for PC as well, not just Xbox One and Series S/X consoles.
