New Revolutionary Controller Could Be A Game Changer

**Abdou23** · 03-05-2012

A new type on game controller, developed by University of Utah engineers, is unlike anything seen before. The new controller pulls and stretches the thumb tips in different directions to simulate feeling and resistance.

William Provancher, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University said:
“I’m hoping we can get this into production when the next game consoles come out in a couple of years.”
Provancher was recently demonstrating the controller in Vancouver, British Columbia, during the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Haptics Symposium. Haptics deals with research about touch sensory.
The first haptic feedback in controllers came in 1997 with the Nintendo64 “rumble pack.” Vibration has been used in controllers ever since to simulate crashes, explosions, and much more.
Now Provancher and his crew want to use their new technology to simulate everything from the recoil of a gun, to the tug of a fishing line. The new controller delivers directional cues by stretching the skin of the thumb tips.
“We have developed feedback modes that enhance immersiveness and realism for gaming scenarios such as collision, recoil from a gun, the feeling of being pushed by ocean waves or crawling prone in a first-person shooter game,” Provancher says.
The latest prototype looks like a standard controller, but with odd looking platforms for the thumb sticks, with a red, motorized “tactor” in the middle of each platform about the size of a pencil eraser tip.
If a character being controlled by a player in-game runs into a wall, the tactor will move back to simulate impact. The tactors can move side to side to mimic ocean waves. When describing a fishing game, Provancher says that “”as the fish jerks on the line, you can feel the tactor jerk under your thumb.”

A study analyzing how gamers perform with the new thumb-tip feedback device was conducted by Provancher, Computer Science doctoral student Ashley Guinan, Computer Science master’s student Rebecca Koslover, and mechanical engineering student Nathaniel Caswell.
The research was intended to answer a critical question: would the new game controller work well with how players perceived “front-back” and “left-right” tugs when the thumbs were angled inward, as they are in a modern controller.
The study found that gamer’s made the necessary mental adjustments for the directional tugs, and could perform just as well if their thumbs were angled inward as if their thumbs were straight.
Provancher says the angled thumb position is better ergonomically, both in terms of comfort and of ease in pushing forward with angled thumbs. He also said future research will focus on how to provide skin-stretch feedback effectively while a game simultaneously produces sounds, sights, and vibrations.
Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical when rumble packs first hit the market back in the 90’s. I thought it was a gimmick that would quickly fade. Now I can’t imagine life without them. Could this technology foreshadow the future of game controllers, even within the next generation of consoles?

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**Inzane2050** · 03-05-2012

I'd rather not have a "living controller," so to speak.

**itachi73378** · 03-05-2012

I thought it was sex toy at first

**Kuro** · 03-05-2012

that looks like a really awkward looking controller...

**Abdou23** · 03-05-2012

It's just a prototype guys,don't think if it gets released it will look like that.

**Morganator** · 03-05-2012

"Stretching skin"

Provancher: We simulate obesity.

**luvbulmers01** · 03-05-2012

Originally Posted by zzKurozz

that looks like a really awkward looking controller...

Same here.

**Sufi** · 03-06-2012

umm wat

**btbam** · 03-06-2012

it will be too expensive. I'd rather have a 30 dollar controller that lets me play than a 70 dollar controller that simulates the game more. good idea, but i dn't think there is a market for it.

**F34R** · 03-06-2012

Originally Posted by itachi73378

I thought it was sex toy at first

Why can't it be both?

**TDbank24** · 03-06-2012

Just give me the DS4 with the proper changes Sony!

**Ghost-Rhayne** · 03-06-2012

Originally Posted by F34R

Why can't it be both?

That's not really a game changer though, Sony did that already with Move. lolol

**Inzane2050** · 03-06-2012

Equipped with the Latest DualShock Controller Feedback!

Bzzzzzzzz......

**gangsta_795** · 03-06-2012

Meh

**mooninites** · 03-06-2012

Where's the rest of it? I'm supposed to hold that in one hand and play with the other? GTFO

**F34R** · 03-06-2012

Originally Posted by Ghost-Rhayne

That's not really a game changer though, Sony did that already with Move. lolol

There's not feedback with the Move though.

**Cybertox** · 03-06-2012

Originally Posted by RozekWracy

I thought it was sex toy at first

Hahaha i love trolls.

I dont think that a new controller can change so much in gaming. The controllers that we have now are pretty decent, simple and dont need any changes.

**Abdou23** · 03-06-2012

Actually the idea is very simple i don't know why people are freaking out instead of using their minds.The idea simply is : the 2 thumb sticks in the current controllers can be placed on motors and provide more precise feedback,That's it. Easy and simple.Only concerns is that it might be bit expensive and it can be broken after a while.

**F34R** · 03-06-2012

Originally Posted by Abdou23

Actually the idea is very simple i don't know why people are freaking out instead of using their minds.The idea simply is : the 2 thumb sticks in the current controllers can be placed on motors and provide more precise feedback,That's it. Easy and simple.Only concerns is that it might be bit expensive and it can be broken after a while.

Yeah, very simple concept, and one I approve of.