Let your body be the gamepad using a webcam
Hi HN, I made a keyboard emulator that tracks your body pose and emits the key presses accordingly. My main motivation was to make my kids move more on rainy days. I already made a couple of mini-games using the body pose [1-3], and those were definitely fun to make and play! However, once the kids learned the tricks, they got bored. I could only produce that much content myself, and soon realized that I lack time for churning out games. Finally, I decided to tap into an endless pool of PC games, preferrably simple and less addictive ones like the Gameboy and DOS games. This project has been…
Let your body be the gamepad using a webcam launched on April 16, 2023 with 14 votes, #1,613 of 4,853 launches that month and more than 75% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 3 years on.
In plain words
This software uses a webcam to track body pose and convert movements into keyboard inputs, functioning as a motion-controlled gamepad. It was created to encourage children to be more active indoors by playing existing PC games like classic Gameboy and DOS titles. The tool emulates keyboard presses based on the user's body position, allowing standard games to be played through physical movement rather than a traditional controller.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Emulate arrow keys and two buttons with your arms and legs. - mristin/body-gamepad
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi HN, I made a keyboard emulator that tracks your body pose and emits the key presses accordingly. My main motivation was to make my kids move more on rainy days. I already made a couple of mini-games using the body pose [1-3], and those were definitely fun to make and play! However, once the kids learned the…
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