The Bandit

1. The Bandit Created by Fantastic Four Figure 1 Jeremy Dilts, Miles Von Schriltz, Doug Randolph, and Elizabeth Sine

2. Abstract This presentation will look at the key design components behind a one handed controller design. It will cover design steps and reasoning, and it will also defend the design assumptions made during the creation of this controller.

3. Introduction Usability is a topic that has been getting more and more discussed lately, and it’s important that it is taken into consideration for all design formats. The game industry has a general standard for what controllers should look like and how players should use them, but this does exclude users who have disabilities from playing games. In this presentation, we will be showing a controller design with one handed use as the primary function of the controller.

4. Design Purpose The purpose of this design is to allow users with the ability to only use one hand to play different kinds of games on current generation consoles. With our design we hope to allow those with the use of only one hand to easily access games of many different kinds. Our modular design can be customized to accommodate left or right hand users. It also allows users to custom design the controller to a configuration that they feel comfortable with.

5. Inspiration Jeremey Dilts The inspiration for my portion of our controller design comes from a gentleman who wrote the book Beyond Boundaries, Miguel Nicolelis. In this book he describes his research, as well as others, to create what he calls Brain Machine Interfaces or BMIs. According to Nicolelis (2012), it is possible for a monkey to control a robotic arm with only its mind and a BMI (p. 224). This fact has made me think very hard on subjects I had no interest in before reading this book like biology and neuroscience. With this inspiration I added the muscle sensors to the controller we are designing. While not exactly a BMI the sensors allow the user to add the functionality of 2 more buttons. Figure 5

6. Inspiration Miles Von Schriltz The inspiration for my portion of our controller (touchpads) comes from the Steam controller (“Pre-order Steam,” n.d.). Thumbsticks have been a very popular design feature in controllers and are easy to use. But for anyone who has played enough computer games, you’ve realized that console controllers just don’t offer the same amount of control. There are even times during fast paced games where my thumb has slipped off the thumb pad and cost me greatly in the game. That is why when I saw the steam controller I knew that touchpads were the way to go moving forward in controller design. The touchpads not only offer the player more range of motion and control, but also greatly reduces the risk of the player’s thumb slipping off of the controls. I also believe that touchpads would be much easier for a one handed player to use than thumbsticks which was the main inspiration behind the design. Figure 6

7. Inspiration Doug Randoph The idea behind the use of an optical eye mouse for a controller comes from my time as PC gamer who prefers a controller. Having a set of buttons that can be programmed to replicate any key on a keyboard allows for less movement and more precision in key presses. The precision of the eye makes aiming in most games easy while also being able to use other inputs on the controller. Adding a joystick or other form of keys for movement would make this ideal for players that have to make due with the loss of an arm. In a study conducted by the University of Grenoble “a standard 2D mouse outperformed the 3D input devices” (Gross, (2009). Figure 7

8. Inspiration Elizabeth Sine Modular Customization Rumors about Google’s modular phone have been floating around for a while, and it’s actually the inspiration for my key design feature. (Mui, 2015) Ever since learning about the project I’ve been fascinated by the possibilities of modular technologies, and modular design seemed like the perfect feature to allow for one handed usability of a controller because it would allow users to set up the controller with the layout that best suites the game they are playing and the hand they’re using. Figure 8 Also as a gamer that sometimes struggles with the use of both of my hands, I wanted to focus on making a controller that could be very easily adapted to being used by either hand.

9. Design Method The Fantastic Four had some fantastic individual ideas about how to combine four very different design concepts into one innovative controler. We proposed ideas to the team and decided to vote on which base idea we wanted to move forward with as a team. Figure 9 is a top down view of a portion of one of these initial ideas. It was a joystick that could move across a trackpad that would control camera functions and player movement. It also utilized biceps and abdominal sensors and featured total modularity for button placement on the joystick. Figure 9

10. Design Method (cont.) The team as a whole voted on a design though we all saw the value of the other designs. The base idea we took into consideration was a modular controller that utilized trackpad and optical laser for player controls, and a bicep sensor for added button control. Modularization seemed like the easiest design concept to start with, so the controller would focus strongly on customization for the user. Figure 10

11. Design Method (cont.) The next feature to incorporate was trackpads as a feature for user control. A trackpad was added into one of the modular sections in place of an analog stick to represent user movement control. The third feature added was the optical laser. The initial idea posed used a motion sensor that could be attached to a headset, glasses, or a provided headband. The team found this idea to be an issue for new users who may have to look down or away and cause issues within a game. We next discussed using technology to track eye movement to control the camera, but we figured this too would cause too many issues for the player who much look around the screen, but may not wish to move the camera. To the left is the first proposed use of the optical laser, a motion sensor to clip onto the player (right) and the motion sensor bar to go with it (left). Figure 11

12. Design Method (cont.) The team finally came up with the best way to incorporate the optical laser. We chose to create a mouse that is strapped to the foot and used in conjunction with a mouse pad to control the camera or left analog stick in traditional controllers. The final design to ensure full controller functionality was the abdominal and bicep sensors. We chose to remove the abdominal sensor, but did use the bicep sensor as a trigger button. To keep in line with the main idea behind the controller, customization, we chose to include a switch on the main controller that would switch the bicep trigger and the trigger on one of the modular sections. We wanted to focus on allow the user to chose the layout as much as possible to make gameplay most comfortable and the control as usable as possible for his or her play style. Figure 12

13. Schematics Figure 13

14. Schematics Figure 14

15. Schematics Figure 15

16. Defend Design Assumptions Jeremy Dilts I think those who would have problems with the muscle sensors I have added to the controller will find fault with the location of the sensors. The bicep of the arm that is using the rest of the controller isn’t the best spot to put a sensor because the flexing of the bicep will cause the hand to come off the controller. I would counter that this is not true due to the fact that one can flex the bicep with little to no movement of the hand or arm. This, according to Hermens et. all, requires a little bit of training but nothing that can’t be done in an afternoon or two (p. 365). The sensor on the abdominal muscle would require less training than the bicep sensor. Detractors might also say that the person would get tired of contracting the muscle so much during play. I say that this is true but only to the extent that it takes a bit to train the muscle to not fatigue as fast. Also the muscles in the hands, at first, are also fatigued after a lot of playing. This does not stop users of the controllers to stop playing altogether. Figure 16

17. Defend Design Assumptions Miles Von Schriltz The reason that I incorporated touchpads in my design is because of the amount of precise control it provides the user. Not only can a touchpad sense where the finger is and how it's moving, it can also sense the amount of pressure that the user is applying. (Pepper, 1981) I feel that a touchpad offers an amount of control for the user that a controller with thumbsticks can’t even come close to. While a thumbstick can be pressure sensitive, it just doesn’t have the same precision control and range of motion that a touchpad provides. Figure 17.1 Figure 17.3 Figure 17.2

18. Defend Design Assumptions Doug Randolph The use of a mouse is standard for everyone, even if they are not a gamer. Mice are used as an everyday item in today's world. This design will come naturally to most users, and should take only a small amount of use to get used to the product. While implementing the mouse input on the user's foot the player can focus their attention to other inputs and it should come naturally with some time. While there are more suitable styles of controllers for many tasks, most users prefer simplicity to complexity in the way they control various objects. (Gross, (2009). Figure 18

19. Defend Design Assumptions Elizabeth Sine The core design assumption that I made was that modularity would be the key to providing the most usability to the largest audience. By choosing a layout that would allow users to map keys and functions how they desired, I believe that controllers are better able to rapidly adapt to the needs of the user. (Keates & Clarkson, 2003) Beyond the design and production costs, there are very few negatives to modular controllers. Users would have major options for playing how they want to play any game. They could easily switch to different layouts for different games. Modular design would also allow for producers to provide different functions to the same base product as well. This would provide users with even more functionality. Figure 19 from Elizabeth’s week one Discussion design

20. The Witcher III : Wild Hunt (RPG) The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is a role playing game. It is a story driven game set in a vast and beautiful world where the choices you make have real consequences. The controller is designed to be customizable to each player’s playing style. By having a foot pedal to control the player’s movement it really reduces the workload on the player’s hands and makes the controller very easy to use with one hand. The ability to change controls around to best suit the individual, this controller is great for any type of role-playing game.

21. Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare Call of Duty : Advanced Warfare is a first-person shooter set in the future. A private military is trying to take complete control of the world and the player, upon discovering the intentions of their employer must do everything they can to save the world. By having the foot controller to move the player and the touchpad to aim, it is very easy to navigate the game. By allowing the player to customize the layout of the controller to their liking, it makes the controller very easy to use for first-person shooters as they can arrange the buttons they use must in the most easily accessible way to their playing style.

22. Rory McIlroy PGA TOUR Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is an EA Sports golf game. The player can create their own golfer and play through an entire career. By having the swinging motion mapped to the foot controller it makes the rest of the controls very easy to use with one hand. This is a slow paced game where the player doesn’t have to access many buttons quickly, so any control layout they choose will be easy to use for this game.

23. Prototype Prototyping did prove to be more of a challenge than we expected because translating the dimensions of the controller discussed and designed on paper is much more difficult judging and building the prototype. Figure 23

24. Prototype (cont.) Side Profile View (Figure 24.3) Foot Controller Closed (Figure 24.4) Foot Controller (open) (Figure 24.5) Trigger Orientation Switch Front Profile View (Figure 24.1) Bicep Sensor Arm Band (Figure 24.2)

25. Playtest The play tester is familiar with and proficient in the use of many different controllers. He most commonly plays FPS games, so we asked him to imagine using this controller to play an FPS. Here are a few key points he made during testing. • He wouldn’t be able to use this playing in bed or reclining on a couch. Also, not being able to stand up without removing the foot mouse could be a source of frustration in the future. • He liked the customization of the controller, and thought that being able to change button layouts and which trigger used the bicep sensor would make learning to use the controller easier. • He liked the size of the main controller for playing in a chair or on a couch because if fit well and worked better on his lap like that, but it was large and inconvenient when placed on a desk to be used. Figure 25 Play Tester Thomas F. using The Bandit

26. Post Mortem What went wrong - During the planning stage of development the dimensions of the controller were never decided. This led to confusion and trial and error during the prototyping of the product. There was some confusion about what each module would do in the final design. What went right - The most important thing for us that went right was the ability for the team to find acceptable conclusions for all of the problems we had. By combining different ideas and aspects of all of the ideas we all came to a conclusion that was acceptable and approved by everyone. What should be done differently next time - One of the most important things we will do next time is better planning for the prototype. We will figure out all of the dimensions of the controller and make sure everyone knows what all of the components do and how to label each one.

27. References CD Projekt red. (2015). The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. [Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC]. Poland: CD Projekt Red. EA Tiburon. (2015). Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. [Playstation 4, Xbox One]. Florida, USA: EA Sports. Gross, T. (2009). Human computer interaction - INTERACT 2009 12th IFIP TC 13 international conference, Uppsala, Sweden, August 24-28, 2009 : Proceedings. (pp. 400-414). Berlin: Springer. Hermens, H., & Freriks, B., & Disselhorst-Klug, C., & Rau, G. (2000). Development of Recommendations for SMEG Sensors and Sensor Placement Procedures, Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, Volume 10(5), pp. 361-374 retrieved from http://www.jelectromyographykinesiology.com/article/S1050-6411(00)00027-4/abstract Keates, S., & Clarkson, P. J. (2003). Countering design exclusion: bridging the gap between usability and accessibility. Universal access in the information society, 2(3), 215-225. Lende, Daniel (March 2011). Miguel Nicolelis & Beyond Boundaries. Picture retrieved from http://blogs.plos.org/neuroanthropology/2011/03/16/miguel-nicolelis-beyond-boundaries/ Mui, Chunka (January 2015). “How Google’s Modular Phone Threatens Apple and Samsung” Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2015/01/20/how-googles-modular-phone-threatens-apple-and-samsung/ Nicolelis, Miguel (2012) Beyond Boundaries. New York, New York. Henry Holt Pepper Jr, W. (1981). U.S. Patent No. 4,302,011. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Pre-Order Steam Controller. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2015, from http://store.steampowered.com/app/353370/ Sledgehammer Games. (2014). Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. [Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC].California, USA: Activision.