Controller DesignFearsome Thorny Pigeons

Full Sail University03/15/2015William Lopez

Brian MeethElizabeth Fordham

Laz MatechStephen Cleary

Abstract

Games today are loved by many, but physical limitations prevent many from enjoying them. Through combining and refining our personal designs for a one handed controller, we’ve developed a prototype that could be useable by both abled and disabled gamers. This one handed controller design can fit popular game types using a combination of motion controls and traditional controls.

Introduction & Design Purpose

Modern console controllers are more or less designed with two hands in mind. This becomes an issue if you happen to lose the ability to use one of your hands. That is where a properly designed controller made specifically for the use of one hand becomes increasingly important.

A controller that is properly designed will alleviate any hardships associated with having only one hand, such as awkward or even inaccessible button placement. The inclusion of some other way to control two analog sticks, such as gyroscopes, solves the problem of not being able to control two thumbsticks anymore. This is what our controller is setting out to be; the best for single handed use.

Stephen’s InspirationWhile thinking about various methods of item interaction, I was

inspired by the foot petals on my old MadCatz Racing Wheel. My inspiration lead me to making the pedals compact enough to be squeezed within the controller itself. This feature is utilized in the ALT modifier button that changes the buttons to other buttons on the controller. ("Specialty Gaming Controllers", 2015)

Liz’s Inspiration“When I decided to concentrate on the PlayStation as the console of choice for a

new controller, I kept in mind Robert Merritt (a one handed gamer) who once told Matt Peckham that he didn’t like specially adapted controllers (Peckham, 2014). The PlayStation controller is designed with only two handed players in mind, but what if we could create a one handed controller that even two handed players would want to use. If you have two hands or if you have one hand, I wanted players to be able to use a small form factored controller that felt natural to a gamer. By having a shape like one side of a PlayStation controller in mind and the bottom half acting as one of the thumbsticks, a gamer can comfortably play most PlayStation games and learn how to use the controller effortlessly. “ - Elizabeth Fordham

Laz’s InspirationThe inspiration for my controller stemmed from several different ideas.

I thought of a flight stick (The Gamer’s Charity, 2013) and how it can move the player and implementing an analog on top to aim, but I didn’t want something so bulky and could easily be handled. I started thinking about mobile devices that you can play with one hand so I got the idea of the gyroscope as the second analog stick (Victor H., 2014).

Brian’s InspirationMy original design was mainly inspired by flight sticks, and how to

integrate all of the functions from two handed controllers onto a single flight stick. Adding a thumbstick to the top of one took care of one axis, but still did not take care of the other if this was to not be placed on a tabletop. That’s where the Hall sensors came in. The same type of sensor is used in flight sticks to independently track the two axes of the stick. I was inspired by Ben Heck’s way of tying one of the analog sticks to the bottom of the controller and moving the controller across your leg to move it (Connor F. 2014)

William’s Inspiration The original inspiration of my design was a moldable eraser I

was playing with in my hand while I researched the discussion; I noticed that the form of my eraser was a good fit in my hand (M. Pinola, 2012). As I looked at it and saw how my hand fit around it I imagined buttons resting where my fingers were. I then picked the genres my controller would focus on and placed buttons appropriately. While I watched The Gamer’s Charity video (The Gamers’ Charity, 2013) I loved the concept of making the buttons programmable, allowing for buttons to be changed to what’s needed for each game.

Design MethodOur process began with identifying the requirements of each

members contribution. This included things such as required holding orientation and required space. We did this by examining each others design and seeing where we could grab inspiration for a group controller from our already created controllers.

After we identified the key features to be implemented and the enclosure body shape, we began to move the team contributions around like modular components.

Schematic Diagrams

Stephen’s Design Assumptions

“Knowledge in the world acts as its own reminder. Knowledge in the head

is efficient: no search and interpretation of the environment isrequired.” (Norman, The Design of Everyday Things, 1990)

My design assumption is that my singular full palm activated trigger will

allow the player to utilize the same buttons for more than one task. This will

allow the player to gain more control over their game with consideration to

the player’s limitations. This fixes the issue of having to have a network of

buttons that becomes hard to navigate by making each button dual purpose.

This simplifies the process of learning the controller and translatesknowledge from the world, to the head.

Liz’s Design Assumptions“Even though at first glance my controller appears to just be a

joystick like design, I wanted the lower stick to actually use the PS4 thumbstick technology. PlayStation’s thumbsticks “have always felt a bit looser than Microsoft’s, with a larger degree of throw to them” (Newman, 2013) and joysticks have traditionally been really tight. With a looser feel that gives you a full range of motion, driving games and top down action adventure games like Diablo would still be completely possible and still just as precise as if you had two thumbsticks”

- Elizabeth Fordham

Laz’s Design AssumptionsToday’s gyroscopes may not be as accurate as they could be,

but that doesn’t mean we cannot design one that works the way we want it to. We could have auto calibration to fix the position problems and go from there. There are so many games that already use gyroscopes on mobile devices. A lot of these games have good reviews too. “Steve Jobs promised the gyro will make a difference. And praiseGamemakers like Gameloft who were quick to optimize their games touse it. Best use: first-person shooters.” (Victor H. 2010)

Brian’s Design Assumptions

A one-handed controller that is not ambidextrous is a slight failure of design. Not everyone loses the use of the same hand, so having a controller that can be used equally with both hands is quite important. Symmetry, even in that means having buttons mirrored, or large enough to be used with either hand is extremely important when in the design stages. This can be quite a challenge when designing something that is ergonomic no matter what hand is using it.

William’s Design Assumptions

The programmable keys (Gamers’ Charity, 2013) of the one handed Gamers’ Charity controller allowed for a vast amount of settings to be changed. This allowed for a mass amount of different grips to use the controller and have all the needed buttons always within close reach of their fingers. The easily ability to use a physical pad to change the button functions also allows for many people to quickly change their preferred layout.

Control Mapping - Diablo 3Diablo III is an action role-

playing game, with dungeon crawler mechanics. Our controller is just as accessible as current controllers as each button is within finger length, while keeping healthy ergonomics. As the camera is fixed on Diablo III, the player only needs to focus on moving around and casting their abilities.

Control Mapping - Need for Speed

Need for Speed Rivals is an arcade racing game that can require quite the amount of fast reflexes. Our controller is perfect for this game, as all of the needed functions such as steering, nitrous, etc. is easy to use. Only two functions are mapped to the Alt mode, with one being brake. This is not a problem as there would be no need to use the throttle while you are braking.

Control Mapping - Geometry WarsGeometry wars is a simple game

where you move around the game space avoiding enemy objects and shooting them down. You acquire power-up bombs that blast the screen clear allowing you space to breath for a moment.

With our controller, it would be simple enough to move around with the mounted analog stick and simple to shoot by rotating and tilting the controller taking advantage of the built in gyroscope and shoot in that direction. The buttons on the controller are reprogrammable, so it would be easy to set the bomb button to any button that suits the player.

Simple Prototype

Playtest Sessions

● While testing out the motion controls, it felt like I needed to grip harder which can make button pressing uncomfortable. A velcro adjustable strap would decrease the grip necessary for motion.

● The buttons are flush and have just enough space between them that its easy to slide between buttons without using the pinky.

● Mentally remembering the layout of the buttons is a chore. Additional testing of button layouts should be done.

Tester’s Thoughts

PostmortemWhat happened correctly:The team was able to come together on multiple occasions and agree on

designs that the majority of the team thought to be best. This helped to not have a fragmented, jumbled design at the end.

What happened incorrectly:The team did have differences on occasions. Some of the differences took up

some valuable time from the project and caused some setbacks. Perhaps if we had more time to work out more design options, we could have worked together on these designs and come up with more solutions.

What would you do differently:The team coming to the meetings more prepared, ie. design ideas, etc. would

have helped to speed along certain bottlenecks we had. This would have made certain processes more efficient in terms of the design process.

ReferencesFlynn, Conner (March 14th, 2014) Ben Heck Creates One-Handed PS4 Controller for Disabled, Technabob.

http://technabob.com/blog/2014/03/14/ben-heck-one-handed-ps4-controller/Heck, B. (2008, March 16) New Single-Handed Controller [image]. Retrieved fromhttp

://www.benheck.com/new-single-handed-controller/Newman, J. (2013, February 15). Rumored Sony PS4 controller shows new thumbsticks. Tech Hive. Retrieved from

http://www.techhive.com/article/2028409/rumored-sony-ps4-controller-shows-new-thumbsticks.htmlPeckham, M. (2014, March 11). Need a One-Handed Playstation 4 Controller? How about for Xbox One?. Time.

Retrieved from http://time.com/20127/need-a-one-handed-playstation-4-controller-how-about-for-xbox-one/N.A. (N.D.) VKB Fat Black Mamba Joystick. FlightSimControls.com. Retrieved from

http://flightsimcontrols.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/black-mamba-fat-10.jpgN.A. (N.D.) The Best Controllers for One-Handed Players. GameZombie.tv. Retrieved fromhttp

://www.gamezombie.tv/articles/the-best-controllers-for-one-handed-players/Gamers’ Chairty. (N. D.) maxresdefault.jpg. Retrieved from http

://i.ytimg.com/vi/zRXdSTjgbE4/maxresdefault.jpg Gamers’ Chairty. (N. D.) maxresdefault(1).jpg. Retrieved from Pinola, M. (2012, December 27). xlarge.jpg. Retrieved from http

://img.gawkerassets.com/img/189noc24unl6yjpg/xlarge.jpg The Gamers’ Charity (May 2013) How to create a one handed controller for FPS', YouTube https

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRXdSTjgbE4

References Cont.Victor H. (December 14th 2010) Gyroscope apps and games, PhoneArena.comhttp

://www.phonearena.com/news/Gyroscope-apps-and-games_id15299Specialty Gaming Controllers. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from

http://store.madcatz.com/categories/specialty-controllers-category/Mad-Catz-Pro-Racing-Force-Feedback-Wheel-and-Pedals-for-Xbox-One.html

Norman, D. (1990). Knowledge in the Head and in the World. In The Design of Everyday Things (p. 80). New York: DoubleDay.