The 24-year-old Hans Smith suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, but is a true lover of baseball. Currently a student at Boise State, he is unable to feed or dress himself and uses a wheelchair. Unfortunately for Smith, playing baseball on the field with the rest of his teammates is not an option. Instead he enjoys the game on his PlayStation 3, however at times it can be challenging because he doesn’t have the dexterity to direct his players the way he wants. To benefit others who also suffer from a disability, Smith had an idea to work with the Sony design team to create an A.D.V.A (Association for Disabled Virtual Athletes) mode of the MLB The show, the most popular baseball video game. Smith stated in
The New York Times,
“Now, whether you win or lose,” Smith said, “it will be based upon your ability to know the game — to know when you want to do a double steal, to know when you want to do a squeeze play, to know when you want to bring your infielders in — instead of, ‘Oh, no, I can’t hit that button.’”
By developing a new way of playing video games for the disabled, Smith benefited many lives that were restricted by playing the games that they love. Its amazing how technology has such a large impact on not only the disabled but on everyone's life. With these ideas in mind we can alter many activities to help those who suffer from disabilities, and allow them to experience the joy out of it.
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