He founded ‘SpecialEffect’ in 2007 in order to create an independent charity with a multi-professional team that focuses on enhancing the quality of life for people with physical disabilities by creating opportunities to access technology for leisure, creativity and communication, with a particular focus on access to videogames. Since then, his team has carried out thousands of in-person and online assessments. They have helped Microsoft to develop the XBox Adaptive Controller, Sony to develop the PS5 Access Controller and Logitech to develop the Adaptive Switch kit, all of which are designed to enable a wide range of access devices to be used to control videogames. In addition, they have helped a large number of Games Developers, such as EA, Rare and Playground Games to make games like ‘FA2025', 'Sea of Thieves' and ‘FORZA’ more accessible for people with physical disabilities. In addition, Mick has taught in both mainstream and special schools and was a Deputy Director at The Oxford ACE Centre. He helped create the first ever gaze-control interface for the Tobii gaze-tracker in 2003 and also for the SMI Mygaze in 2014. He has played a significant role in several European Projects, including responsibility for User Requirements in COGAIN, a European gaze-control and disability project. He was a member of the Advisory Panel for BNCI Horizon 2020, which created a roadmap for future European Brain and Neural Computer Interaction.
Highlights
If you give someone the right access to technology, then they can play their brother and sister and beat them which is something that is really, really difficult in any other form of play for children with disabilities.
I just decided well I am just going to have to do it myself.
Maybe I can make a global difference in this way which kind of gave me the confidence to go for it.
The transformation that you can make to people’s lives is, is, you are right, it is life transforming.
It didn’t matter what their head was doing, their eyes were fixed on that exit.
The eye control is working independently of the movement of their body.
My attitude is the opposite to that and that was to be a catalyst for a change and to make that a smooth transition really rather than any confrontation.
It’s a bit like being a tailor, if you imagine, for people with more complex disabilities…
If there’s a great opportunity comes up that could transform, we could use the skills and the experience that we’ve got to actually create something that will change the world or have a global impact, then that is something that’s worth doing.
Basically, quite simply, my whole life I realised has been dedicated to try and include as many people as possible and as many activities as possible.