Mario Eye Controller Allows Control of Eight-Bit NES Games By Eye Movement

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Cheery happy news for the gamer set today, folks, as we discover that, fairly soon, even full quadriplegics will be able to once again play video games. This comes to us thanks to the Mario Eye controller from Waterloo Labs, and with it, soon all you’ll need to do to game is just move your eye.

The science behind this one is a delicate combination of frightening and awe-inspiring: the human eye is apparently polarized. Thus, when it moves, so too does an electric field surrounding it, which can in turn be measured thanks to stick-on electrodes. Once the electrodes detect eye movement by detecting changes in the magnetic field, the information is “filter(ed) and amplif(ied)” then sent to a “daughter card”, and finally relayed to the eight-bit Nintendo, where up is up, down is down, and so on. Jumping is apparently accomplished by pressing up.

Even better, apparently, you can even make one of these systems yourself at home–instructions are available from Waterloo–and hopefully, soon, someone will develop a controller that lets anyone play any game. That’d be a real winner.