{"id":136961,"date":"2026-01-30T00:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T00:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/136961\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T00:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T00:10:19","slug":"adaptive-gaming-technology-opens-new-doors-for-players-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/136961\/","title":{"rendered":"Adaptive gaming technology opens new doors for players with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Adaptive Adaptive gaming technology opens new doors for players<\/a> <\/p>\n

Video games are a daily escape for billions of people worldwide, offering a chance to compete, explore and connect. But for players with physical disabilities, traditional controllers can make that world difficult or impossible to access.<\/p>\n

ORLANDO, Fla. – Video games are a daily escape for billions of people worldwide, offering a chance to compete, explore and connect. But for players with physical disabilities, traditional controllers can make that world difficult or impossible to access.<\/p>\n

Health<\/a> and education leaders in Central Florida are working to change that through a partnership between Orlando Health and Full Sail University, focusing on adaptive gaming technology that doubles as both entertainment and rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

For Adrian Araiz, the barrier was physical. After breaking his back, Araiz lost the ability to fully use his fingers, making traditional video game controllers difficult or impossible to operate.<\/p>\n

“I mainly play Apex when I actually want to do more active gameplay. I play a lot of Minecraft,” Araiz said.<\/p>\n

Adaptive gaming technology has helped reopen that world for him. Araiz said he was introduced to specialized equipment that allows players to interact with games in new ways, including devices that can be controlled with limited hand movement or other alternative inputs.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s like a little bionic arm that you can control with your brain,” he said. “I didn\u2019t even know that was a thing until I got to talk to the right people.”<\/p>\n

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The technology is part of a collaboration between Orlando Health and Full Sail University, aimed at blending gaming, rehabilitation and innovation. Organizers say the partnership is designed to help patients while also giving students hands-on experience in developing accessible technology.<\/p>\n

“It really ties in what Full Sail teaches when it comes to both the educational side and the technological side and combining that with what Orlando Health brings to the table with their next-level health care,” said Jacob Kaplan, director of esports business strategy at Full Sail University.<\/p>\n

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At the Orlando Health Fortress, Full Sail students are receiving scholarships to continue designing adaptive tools that can be used not only in gaming, but in everyday life. Christine Davidson, senior director of ambulatory rehab operations at Orlando Health, said the goal is to expand access well beyond entertainment.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re utilizing what they\u2019ve learned up until this point in order to create something that can help folks that need to be able to use adaptive tech within not just gaming, but everyday activities,” Davidson said.<\/p>\n

For Araiz, the impact is personal and immediate.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m just very happy there\u2019s different technology out there now that I can utilize, or people in wheelchairs can utilize,” he said.<\/p>\n

Advocates say the effort proves that in adaptive gaming, there is no “game over” \u2014 only new ways to play.<\/p>\n

The Source: This story was written based on information shared by Orlando Health and Full Sail University, including interviews with gamer Adrian Araiz, Director of Esports Business Strategy at Full Sail University, \u00a0Jacob Kaplan, and Christine Davidson, the Senior Director of Ambulatory Rehab Operations at Orlando Health.<\/p>\n

Orange County News<\/a>Orlando News<\/a>Entertainment<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adaptive gaming technology opens new doors for players Video games are a daily escape for billions of people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[104,47,115,1335,139,141,140,628],"class_list":["post-136961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-entertainment","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}