Limbitless Training Games won the Best Serious Game Innovation award at the Orange County Convention Center for its video games that people missing hands can play without having to press a button.

Limbitless Training Games integrates electromyography board technology into a series of games including Dog Jump, Smash Bro, Sushi Slap and more. It allows users to move their video-game characters – jumping, slapping or smashing, depending on the game – merely by flexing their muscles. An EMG board sticks to a user’s forearm via conductive pads to measure electric impulses in one’s muscles and trigger the game.

The idea stemmed from Limbitless Solution’s student staff members Albert Manero, executive director, and Dominique Courbin, director of production. Limbitless Solutions creates bionic arms for children missing limbs via 3-D printing, which makes the products less costly than others on the market.

“Myself and Dominique have been dreaming this up [the games] for quite some time,” said Manero. “Dominique’s been taking a lot of steps for about a year and a half to engage the School of Visual Arts and Design about this idea. We want to take the technology from the arms to create some fun and training opportunities for the kids. We provided some hardware assistance, and SVAD brought in the creative aspect.”

Peter Smith, digital media assistant professor, and undergraduate game design students Tyler Quillen and Zackary Henderson, both seniors, have been spearheading the creation of the game. Quillen and Henderson work with Smith as undergraduate researchers and accepted the award at the showcase. They’ve been working on the games since March. Some games took 16 weeks to create, while others were made in 48-hour “jam sessions.”

“It’s fulfilling to see something I’m doing help people in a positive way. To see that tangible effect, and not just receive a grade and be done. It’s a good feeling,” Henderson said.

Quillen added: “It’s been so rewarding. We got to go to a fitting when about seven kids got their arms from Limbitless. A kid was catching a football, while another girl was trying to play guitar. A lot of our work is just for a class and a grade, but this was the first opportunity for us to really make a difference.”

Kids who were receiving bionic arms from Limbitless tested out the games in September. It enhanced their excitement to receive their arms because they saw how its technology also could be used as a video-game controller, said Manero, who added it’s a way for kids to practice using the arm’s technology in a low-pressure, fun way.

Limbitless Training Games was one of 50 entries in the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge that is part of the annual Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference. Entries came from industry, military and student groups. Other awards included People’s Choice, Best Business Game, Best Industry Game and more.

“We were so shocked and surprised. I wasn’t expecting to win anything,” Henderson said.

Quillen added: “We’ll definitely be back, flexing strongly.”

“We receive emails daily asking for help,” said Dominique Courbin, a senior studying to earn his degree in mechanical engineering in 2016 while working and continuing to volunteer his time with the team. “It’s kind of hard to keep up.”

Courbin is one of the original Limbitless Solution team members who designed a 3-D printed arm for for less than $350 and then gave it to him for free. The team then proceeded to upload the designs onto the Internet for anyone to use.

Since then, the team has consulted on several dozen cases around the world via Skype and email. They have custom designed two hands and an arm, and in once case three team members drove straight through the night to Virginia so could have her arm by Thanksgiving morning. They are also working on a 4.0 version of an arm with a more functional elbow to give Alex just in time for Christmas.

The busy team members often ask each other what day of the week it is and joke that sleep is “overrated.” Seeing the face of the children and their parents when the children receive an arm makes the long hours and hustle worth it, they say.

“It’s amazing,” said team leader Albert Manero, who is in Germany working on a fellowship tied to his master’s degree in aerospace engineering. “I mean, I’m just a 25-year-old with a laptop in Germany working to make a difference. I’m so happy we can engineer hope for families around the world.”

Despite being thousands of miles away and nowhere near the lab at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ that the team uses to produce the limbs, Manero has kept moving forward responding to requests and trying to create partnerships that can extend the team’s impact. The team members, including Manero, meet weekly via videoconference to talk about their work and the many requests they receive.

The team is now part of a League of Universities and Institutions that has pledged to share the knowledge to help their local communities. Some of the members include: Liberty University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Miami Children’s Hospital, University of Southern California, University of Pennsylvania, Humanitarian Prosthetists and Orthotists, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and Cleveland State University.

Meanwhile, team members at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ continue to answer emails and troubleshoot with other volunteers – some professional, some students – across the country who have reached out for help

When the team receives an email the members first try to reach out to their partners to see if anyone is closer to the person asking for help. That’s the best-case scenario, said Tyler Petresky, a sophomore majoring in computer engineering and one of the leaders based at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝. If the team members can, they make the connection and move onto the next name on their list. In some cases, there is no one else and the team starts reviewing the situation and seeing what they can do and how quickly. There are

Then there are those requests that are extremely challenging.

One family reached out because their child has Atelosteogenesis Type 3, a rare disease that causes bone to grow incorrectly, misalign and deviate limbs. Only 20 people are known to have this condition in the world. The family asked the team if they could help with the leg braces the boy uses. Members of the team pooled together and created a senior design team to tackle the problem.

Mateo Alvarez is leading the group and is working with Nemours doctors in Delaware and Orlando to help create a more comfortable brace that will be primarily 3-D printed for the child. The goal is to make the brace and exoskeleton more adaptable and more affordable.

In November, a team of volunteers in Colombia used the team’s work to make an arm for a child. It was the first time the team’s work had been used outside the United States. It was a milestone, but it is only the beginning.

“I have a dream that someday we can work with the U.N. and UNICEF to set up 3-D stations around the world to help every child who can benefit from this,” Manero said. “That would really be something.”