Man creates 3D printed controller to help his friend

Julio Vazquez’s friend, Rami Wehbe, had a cerebrovascular accident, also known as a stroke. This happens when blood flow to a certain part of the brain is stopped, either by a blockage or by the rupture of a blood vessel.

Due to this, Rami was unable to use his right hand to play Zelda, a famous fantasy action-adventure video game.

This inspired Julio to invent a solution that would allow his friend to play using only his left hand.

First, Julio had created a prototype that simply squished the two joy-cons together so that the space that normally exists between them disappears, making it easier to use with just one hand, as one thumb can reach every point of the controller.

After that, he developed a more elaborate model which joins the joy-cons together in a way that allows the player to use the thumb on one side and the other fingers on the other side of the controller. To allow this, the joy-con single hand adapter has a right-angle design, which accommodates smaller hands too. Julio used 3-D printing for the design.

"This current design was the result of almost a week of research and lots of failed prototypes, as I had to ensure that it would be easy to print, lightweight and practical”, Julio said.

He then decided to share it so he could help other people who, like his friend, can only use one hand.

Blueprints for the models can be obtained on the webpage ‘Thingiverse’ and peripherals can be printed at a local 3-D printing shop.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/2kyv8Ll
More info: http://bit.ly/2lJkOjK