Lauren Lee | April 1, 2026 - Atlanta, GA

In early March, the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation’s (CIDI) Tools for Life team partnered with the Georgia Tech Esports Club to support its first-ever hackathon, Tech[HACK] Valley, a three-day event running March 6–8  involving students from across Georgia Tech’s campus. 

This landmark collaboration spotlighted adaptive gaming as a core design challenge and connected students with real-world disability perspectives, clinical expertise, and assistive technology resources. More than 60 students from a wide range of majors—including Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and design disciplines—participated in the hackathon. 

Tools for Life supported the hackathon from its earliest planning stages, working closely with student leaders to shape a Hardware Track dedicated entirely to adaptive gaming and accessible controller design. 

The track challenged participants to rethink how gamers with physical disabilities interact with games—addressing limitations of traditional controllers and exploring alternative input methods, mounting solutions, and affordable designs that could work across platforms.

“When considering the areas in gaming that need the most attention… we determined that the largest shortcoming still existed in controller design,” said DJ Fratt, President of the Georgia Tech Esports Club. “Particularly in how adaptive current designs are, and how games are formatted to take in inputs that go beyond a simple console controller or mouse and keyboard.”

An estimated 46 million gamers in the United States have some form of disability, yet most gaming hardware assumes a narrow range of motion, grip strength, and fine motor control. With guidance from Tools for Life, the hardware track problem statement encouraged students to design beyond conventional buttons and joysticks, considering innovations such as sip-and-puff systems, eye tracking, head movement, EMG sensors, and adaptable mounting systems.

“This collaboration allowed us to leverage our clinical and assistive technology expertise in a completely new context,” said Hunter McFeron, Tools for Life Speech Language Pathologist. “We’ve seen growing interest from students over the years, but this was one of our biggest and most exciting partnerships yet.”
Tools for Life staff attended the opening ceremony and hosted an exhibit table on Friday night showcasing commercially available adaptive gaming technology.

The table served both as an educational resource and an inspiration hub, giving students hands-on exposure to existing tools while emphasizing opportunities for improvement.

“It was so cool to see how those conversations [on Friday night at the exhibit table] were reflected in the final project submissions and demos on Sunday morning,” said Rachel Scarboro, Tools for Life Occupational Therapist.

The team returned Sunday to assist with judging, reviewing and scoring approximately ten submissions and offering detailed feedback grounded in clinical practice and real-world usability.

“I was genuinely impressed by the innovative and practical solutions the engineering and design students were able to develop in such a short timeframe,” McFeron added. “It makes me optimistic about the future of accessibility in the hands of these emerging professionals.”

Beyond technical ingenuity, what stood out most to Tools for Life clinicians was how students integrated personal creativity and empathy into their designs.

“I loved seeing how teams infused their own gaming styles and preferences into their projects as they thought about making games more accessible,” Scarboro said. “As someone with a clinical background in occupational therapy, it was incredible to see what these students could accomplish over just one weekend.”

Fratt echoed this sentiment, noting that the event exceeded even the organizers’ expectations. “We went in confident that students could introduce new concepts,” he said. “But walking away, I’m impressed by their ability to execute at a level comparable to industry research and development—especially with the right guidance.”

The weekend concluded with project presentations and awards across multiple tracks:

The hackathon demonstrated the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and the importance of centering accessibility early in the design process. For Tools for Life, it reaffirmed the value of engaging students as future engineers, designers, and technologists who will shape more inclusive products and experiences.

“I hope this experience inspires students to consider inclusive product design or assistive technology as a career path,” said Scarboro. “And I hope Tools for Life can continue innovative collaborations like this with more student groups on campus.”