The Nintendo Labo concept was launched earlier in the year with the aim of getting owners of the Nintendo Switch to get creative with the package’s DIY cardboard peripherals. One Japanese inventor by the name of Kentaro Yoshifuji thought outside the box and created a Labo-based remote control that could steer an electric wheelchair.
Yoshifuji also tweeted a short video of the Labo remote in action. In the video, the Labo remote is being used by a 13-year old teenager with a heart condition. The teenager is clearly elated, as he is able to remotely move his wheelchair in a variety of motions and movements, from spinning his wheelchair in a stationary position to reversing it back to his starting position.
世界初！ニンテンドーラボで操作する電動車椅子。移動するための乗り物車椅子だけど、@origamicat さんの手にかかると一瞬にして「オレのバイク」に！こうなってくると車椅子ユーザーで良かったとさえ思えてきます。やっぱヒーローやな！オリィさん！任天堂×オリィ研究所 pic.twitter.com/PAuvPt2FPk
— ✴︎TKタケヒロ/YUU(TKマガジン꧁꧂ (@Takeru_FTX) May 1, 2018
Impressive as this is, using gaming consoles and its peripherals outside of its intended purpose isn’t anything new. At a time, Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing controller was being used as a tool in the medical field. At it’s height of its popularity, The US Air Force connected 1,760 Sony PlayStation 3, turning them into one of its supercomputers.
The Nintendo Labo DIY kit is basically comprise of cardboard, meaning one could easily replace the parts that have ceased to function. More importantly, Yoshifuji’s creation falls in line with Nintendo’s goal for Labo; to make experimenting and building devices with its product more accessible to the masses.
