Limbitless Solutions’ UCF faculty members and undergraduate students were selected to present their four-player motorcycle racing game, Limbitless Redline, at the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibition at the GDC March 18 to 22 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. GDC is the video game industry’s premier professional annual event for game developers to share industry advancements.
Limbitless Redline was recognized as a finalist at alt.ctrl.GDC for the Audience Choice Award. An exhibition at GDC, alt.ctrl.GDC celebrates alternative controllers created by independent developers and features exhibitors chosen for creating games that employ alternative or custom controls. Celebrating its 10th year and helmed by indie curators John Polson and Claudia Black from Informa, the exhibition is a community space where visitors can play groundbreaking games, use alternative controllers and connect with the developers that work to enhance play experiences and accessibility for gamers. The 2024 conference attracted more than 30,000 attendees.
Limbitless Redline is a high-octane multiplayer experience where players participate in thrilling motorcycle races across various landscapes, utilizing muscle flex sensing electromyography (EMG) controllers that translate muscle flexes to motorcycle acceleration. Players engage in the excitement of competitive racing — including strategic moves like bumping opponents off the track, slipstreaming for fuel conservation and navigating unpredictable obstacles to secure their position as the last racer standing.
“Limbitless Redline teaches bionic kids how to use their prosthetic arms while being incredibly fun and providing them opportunities to play with their family, friends, and other bionic kids,” says Peter Smith ’05MS ’12PhD, UCF associate professor of the media games and interactive media program (which is ranked No. 5 game design program in the world according to The Princeton Review) in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media.
The game uses the in-house-made EMG muscle-flex video game controller — pushing the boundaries of accessible and immersive gaming experiences — and will be delivered to the bionic children along with Limbitless’ prosthetic arms. Limbitless Redline was designed as an extension of the Limbitless bionic arm training game Quantum’s Pursuit, which was one of eight projects to earn the Unity for Humanity 2023 grant. This grant fully supports undergraduate student professional and research experiences at Limbitless Solutions, fostering collaborations across UCF colleges. Limbitless’ interdisciplinary student games team is comprised of UCF undergraduate students from the computer science program, games and interactive media program and the School of Visual Arts and Design.
Limbitless Solutions, a UCF-based nonprofit, is dedicated to increasing accessibility by creating devices enhanced by training video games in support of children and adults in the disability community, while also enhancing the workforce through its student scholar experience program. Since 2016, Limbitless has leveraged video game-based training for underserved communities, led by Smith and Associate Professor Matt Dombrowski ’05 ’08 MFA of the School of Visual Arts and Design.
“Limbitless Solutions’ groundbreaking achievement at the alt.ctrl.GDC Showcase at GDC reflects our unwavering commitment to accessible game development,” Dombrowski says. “Limbitless Redline exemplifies our dedication to pushing the boundaries. I am immensely proud of our UCF undergraduate games team for their dedication, creativity and contribution to making gaming more accessible.”
The organization and students were excited to showcase their latest work, with students Joaquin Royer and Anthony Martin leading the demonstrations at the exhibit.
“Being afforded the opportunity to work on a game with a mission statement that aligns so closely to my own and to be recognized for it at GDC is an honor I will be forever grateful for,” says Royer, a games and interactive media student.
Along with their student team, Smith and Dombrowski are pushing the boundaries with projects impacting the training of accessibility technology. They have received support from software development companies and industry collaborators, including Adobe and Microsoft.
“I am so impressed with our team’s hard work and dedication,” Smith says. “[The team is] made up of students from across the university. Seeing them learning to work together and making something better than they could have built on their own is immensely rewarding.”
