Forza Motorsport’s Blind Drive Assist Gives Blind Gamer The Chance To Win A Game
Forza Motorsport is doing the rounds for previews this week, and something very interesting and exciting happened. A blind racer played the game with its built in blind assists, and ended up actually winning a race.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, a game Youtuber named Steve Saylor tried out the game’s Blind Drive Assist. Steve has nystagmus, a condition that leads to repetitive, involuntary eye movement. As a result, he has been deemed legally blind.
Blind Drive Assist helps blind players like Steve by giving them audio cues. This, combined with the default audio cues provided in game, theoretically help even things out between him and other players.
Now, we have to remember that Forza Motorsport is not a pick-up-and-play style arcade racer. As a more serious racing sim, it endeavors to create a realistic simulation of each car and track in the game. That means each engine has a distinct sound, and so does the sound of rubber on each track.
Most players take these cues in alongside the visuals to play racing sims better. Some players add an extra advantage for themselves by using force feedback enabled racing wheels, giving them even more feedback to work with.
Steve didn’t say if he used a controller or a racing wheel himself, but it seems that this experience would be fascinating for both. Some of the Blind Drive Assist cues are straightforward – there’s an assist that tells you when a left or right turn is coming, and how much you should turn. That’s just like the co-driver gamers already have in rally racing.
Other audio cues tell you if you’re pivoting away from the track, if you’re being signaled to start the race, and so forth. These cues were clearly well thought out, covering practically every aspect of
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