The ‘Uni-grip Command Stick’

BloodHound Studios

AbstractThe number of disabled people grows every day. In the United States alone, 15.1% of the population is disabled in some manner; physical, mental, and emotional disability. In a recent survey by PopCap games, just over 20% of people who responded labeled themselves as disabled. Nearly 50% of respondents said that they had a physical disability of some sort (with about a 25/25 split between mental and emotional disabilities for the rest of respondents) (PRNewswire, 2008). With such a large number of people identifying themselves as having a physical disability, it stands to reason that game developers should make extended efforts to include disabled gamers. If nothing else, providing more accessible hardware and games provides a greater share of the gaming market. There is a greater purpose, though; reaching more people and helping disabled gamers to enjoy life just a little bit more through games.

Game Usability as it Relates to Controllers and Accessibility

Introduction

Accessibility simply means to provide means and ways for disabled gamers (of any disability) to play games just as non-disabled gamers play them. Accessibility encompasses everything from color-blindness to loss of limb and any other disability imaginable. The idea is to design products (games in our case) with accessibility in mind from the start instead of as an afterthought. In looking at accessibility from a controller standpoint, we can understand the trials that a disabled gamer has before even turning on a game, let alone the issues that they have within the game. There are numerous websites and documentation that have guidelines for all levels of development. These guidelines are as simple as allowing for button remap capabilities to more complex guidelines such as creating one-handed use controllers with the full functionality of a two-handed use controller.

Design Purpose and Intentions

As a means of improving the quality of life for disabled gamers, Bloodhound Studios has adopted a philosophy and project line that aims to put gamers with only one functioning hand on equal footing with non-disabled gamers. Our controller has all of the functionality of a two-handed controller but can be controlled with a single hand. The intent is to allow a one-handed player to control character and camera movement, trigger buttons, and all action buttons with only four fingers. This leaves the pinky finger as a stabilizer at the bottom of the stick for more exact control and efficiency. At Bloodhound Studios, we want disabled gamers to be able to enjoy games just as or more than non-disabled gamers.

Inspiration Inspiration comes in many forms and from many places, and each of our members finds inspiration in different ways.Where our ideas came from

InspirationWayne Work

“I am a PC gamer first, and a console gamer second. Because of this dynamic, the Single Grip controller comes from primarily using a mouse. The controller has a generally flat bottom and can be placed on nearly any surface, including the player’s lap, as it does not have an underside laser pointer or trackball. Requiring that the controller is resting on some surface frees the player’s hand from holding the controller in place. This allows the player to use all five fingers without fear of dropping the controller or losing grip on it and maximizes the player's dexterity.” - Wayne Work

InspirationJohn Miniel

“My big inspiration behind my design is creating space on a controller for those who are only able to use limited control. With the easy-to-grip controller, the impaired are also able to use the ‘control pad’ that allows more space on the controller, as well as the easy use of all face buttons on one button.” - John Miniel

InspirationJerry Rauhuff

“Sometimes, in order to create a new method of enjoyment we must go back to the beginning. Going back to the late 1970s, and getting my inspiration from the fascinating multi-use (Atari, 1977) joystick that was used early on in gaming history, I thought of this idea for a new controller.” – Jerry Rauhuff

InspirationCody Rinehart

“This controller concept not only works for gamers who have both their hands, but also player who may have lost their right or left hands. That is the point of this controller to not alienate the market, and have everyone be able to use this controller if they so choose.” - Cody Rinehart

Joystick 1

Joystick 2 /

J1 Button (Pushed

in)

T2 T4

(Holding Z)

T1T3 (Holding

Z)

ABXYZ

USB 8ft. Cord6 in.

2 in. 2 in.

2 in.

5 in.

Inspiration Jesus Olivares

“The touchpads, which are the core feature of this controller, took inspiration from the recent Steam controller’s touch pads. With touch based controls allowing more actions with less buttons and yet being easy to use, touch-technology is the key to creating a controller for one-handed gamers. Smartphones and tablets have been dominating the market in recent years and make use of touch based technology, making the interface of this controller familiar to most audiences.” - Jesus Olivares

Design Method

Our controller is a collaboration of five different controller designs. We picked the best design decisions from each and molded them into a single unit.The decisions we make

Physical FormWe opted to use a joystick form for the controller. A wide base with a 360 degree rotating stick make up the physical form of the controller. This form lets the player use the controller without requiring them to hold it in the air, wasting energy and finger control to do so. This also provides a main joystick (left stick) for character movement that is native to a standard Flight Stick style joystick.Joystick style model taken from

Jerry’s Individual idea

Stationary controller type taken from Wayne’s Individual idea

Button Placement

The touchpad rests under the Thumb and is used for Camera movement in most games. It also has a built-in 4-way Directional pad for extra functionality. This setup, along with the other buttons on the stick, provide the player with nearly every button on a standard controller

The Start and Select buttons are generally not used for anything but as Pause/Menu buttons of some sort. They are placed on the base of the controller so they are out of the way, do not take up valuable stick real estate, and can be quickly tapped if needed.

The Angular pad at the top of the controller has a 4-way push capability. This allows the player’s index finger to tap up, down, left, or right at will and activate the correspondingly mapped action buttons. (much like the Xbox One Elite controller’s Angular pad).

The four trigger buttons (two triggers and two shoulder buttons) are placed in pairs on top of each other so that the middle and ring fingers can quickly tap them at will without any extra hand movement.

Touchpad taken from Jesus’ Individual idea

Angular pad taken from John’s Individual idea

Trigger buttons/location taken from Cody’s Individual idea

TouchpadThe touchpad functions much like the PS4 controller’s touchpad or a standard mobile device screen, but it also has a built-in 4-way Directional Pad. Movement of the thumb on the pad is generally mapped to controlling the camera in a game, but we wanted the button to do “more”. The built in D-pad not allow gives the player more freedom and controls to work with and having them directly under the thumb makes them very easy to access and tap as needed.

Schematic Diagrams

Controller Dimension Specifications

Top View

Right-side View

Isometric View

State and Defend Design

AssumptionsEach of our controllers brings a fresh take on accessibility in controller design. Intelligent and useful design elements are key to helping disabled gamers find greater enjoyment in gaming.

Why our design makes sense

Defend - Wayne Work“According to the Amputee Coalition, the number of people living with limb loss in the United States is nearly two million, and 500 Americans lose a limb every day. While the majority of cases involve lower body amputations, the most common type of amputation according to the National Center for Health Statistics relates to the hands, where loss can involve one or more fingers. That’s followed, in statistical terms, by the loss of one arm” (Peckham, 2014).

In building the Single Grip Controller with the above numbers in mind, I wanted to maintain a stationary unit as much as possible to help improve the player’s experience with the controller. Placing the same buttons as a controller on a stationary unit gives the hand freedom to adjust about the unit as needed. Using a laser/trackball for movement defeats the purpose of a controller, so in not having that, I have a stationary unit that provides the same functionality as the main buttons on a controller. I also used a one-sided model instead of an ambidextrous model as it gives more freedom for button placement and unit testing. This requires the player to purchase the controller for the hand that they intend to use it with but is a worthy trade-off to make the controller better overall.

Defend - John MinielThe idea for my “control pad” came from the new addition of Microsoft’s Xbox One Elite Controller’s specific “control pad” they designed for their d-pad. I was intrigued by the design of this new button and remembered how painful it was to use the d-pad in the newer games coming out today. According to Alastair (2007) , “It was clear that in order to have good 3D control, players needed to be able to move more freely and in more directions” (p. 4). This is a big influence on my design because it speaks to me in terms of usability of the functions of a controller. This aided me, as well as the new Elite Controller, in my design to use a “control pad” as a multifunctional button for the face buttons, effectively giving them more room, as they are only able to utilise one hand.

Defend - Jerry RauhuffRyan and Mooney speak on the ease of use for right-handed gamers while using the joystick. This is especially so for games that free up the left hand for use on keyboards. (Mooney, S., & Ryan, M. E., 1997, page 361). With a little modifying on the button configuration, my design can work just as easily with the left hand as traditional joysticks do with the right. This design is used with the PS4 system so either hand can be used and there is no need for any controls other than what’s available on the joystick.

Defend - Cody RinehartWhen designing my controller, I knew I wanted to make something that wasn’t just for those with disabilities; but, for everyone. If a player with no disabilities wanted to use this controller on any console they should have the option as well as those with a disability. According to the ESRB the video game industry made $10.5 billion in revenue back in 2010 (ESRB, 2010). Now, I realize that that was 5 years ago, but the industry hasn’t slowed down; it’s gotten much bigger. To only have a controller focus in on a small group of users and only one specific console would mean it wouldn’t be making as much money as it possibly could. Focusing on making sure the controller worked on multiple devices, and making sure that everyone could use it would make this accessory a huge success.

Defend - Jesus OlivaresWhen designing my controller, I knew the primary key would be for the controller to be able to fit all of the actions of a traditional controller into fewer buttons and inputs. In Beyond Fingers and Thumbs - A Graceful Touch UI, the authors talk about how functions normally performed by buttons can now be performed by a combination of touches and gestures (Hessey, 2014). Smartphones and tablets use this concept rather well as they take advantage of touch controls to allow players to perform numerous actions on a single touch screen, as opposed to a traditional controller that would require a series of buttons. These devices have become so mainstream, that any audience would naturally become familiar with a touch interface.

Game Type Layouts

Regardless of the accessibility of a controller, it must be able to play all types of games without rearranging buttons. In-game remap capabilities should be sufficient for any game type.

Same controller, different games.

Same buttons, different layouts.

Prototype Images

Putty ModelThis model was built by Jerry using modeling putty. This model was used in the playtest sessions to simulate the player’s control of the unit’s buttons, hand placement, and the overall stability and “feel” of the unit.

Object ModelThis mockup of the unit was built by Jesus to test hand size and how it would effect button placement.

Playtesting

PlaytestParticipant:

David Davis – David is Jerry’s daughter’s boyfriend and an active gamer. He has experience in different game genres, making him a suitable test subject for our controller.

Setup: Because our prototype obviously cannot work, the playtest was setup so that the tester and overseer took turns playing a game with an actual controller and the other trying to mimic the other’s actions with the prototype controller.For the first playtest session, David played a few levels of the games below while Jerry tried to mimic David’s actions with the prototype controller using our assigned button layout for each genre. This was done so that our overseer would have first hand experience with our controller.For the second play session, Jerry and David switched places. In this session, Jerry played through the games listed while David tried to mimic his actions with the controller layout provided. This was done to receive more unbiased feedback from an outside party.

Games: ● Far Cry 4 (FPS)● UFC (Fighter)

Questions from me to David:

Q: Did the controller feel right in your hand?

A: It felt fine while I was holding it.Q: Did the button placement cause

any strain?A: Somewhat with the index finger. Pressing the A button and Y button put a little strain, but I didn’t have to use it that much.

Conclusion: The feel of the controller and

placement of the buttons were methodical and well placed. They may take some time to get used, but are simple enough that even a novice player should be okay.

Playtesting Images

Postmortem Every design team has its story.

Post completum

The GoodOur team started early and had little trouble molding together a controller from our Individual ideas. We decided on the joystick style controller very quickly and each team member’s ideas came like a waterfall after that. The button layouts were almost immediate and unanimous amongst the team and the joystick style held well with the concepts that each member brought to the discussion. Each member had valuable input into the controller and changes or concerns were voiced without contention. Individual experiments with the controller design successfully revealed any issues in our design, allowing us to find proper solutions in a reasonable amount of time. Nearly all concerns were valid and included specific reasoning related to how the player would use the stick to play a particular game. There were no true conflicts and the team kept the player in mind throughout the process.Team collaboration was at a high during the first discussion and the team kept in high spirits throughout the week. The controller quickly took on a life of its own, apart from our combined individual design concepts, such that our new team controller is certainly the “best” of what we could make as a team.

The BadPlaytesting was essentially the only “bad” item that our team encountered. The look and feel of the controller was easy enough to determine using the putty model that we built, but the actual playability of the controller was a problem for us. Without a physical, electronic and working version of the controller, playtesting the usability of the button placement and such was a bit tricky. The extremely short time table and lack of manufacturing capabilities certainly put a damper on the playtesting capabilities of the team.Despite how well our team combined the main concepts of each member’s Individual designs, the team did struggle some with putting together everyone’s design and molding it into something efficient and comfortable without creating a literal Frankenstein controller. The limitations put on the controller from the start also seemed to pigeon-hole the individual designs, which brought greater limitations to the team controller. The team seemed to bee-line directly for a joystick style controller without giving a lot of thought to more abstract types of controllers.

The ChangesAs a whole, we did not have any major changes to the overall design of the controller. We did, however, have a few minor changes, mainly dealing with button placement/mapping.- The Start/Select buttons were initially directly behind the control stick. This caused the person’s arm to rest directly on them and could possibly cause them to press the buttons without meaning to. We moved the Start/Select buttons off to the side of the base and had no issues after that.- The Trigger/Bumper buttons are a major point of contention in terms of button mapping. This is largely up to the player, of course, but these four buttons will be a major learning curve for any player as they require the use of the middle and ring fingers. These fingers are not generally used in standard control schemes and could prove difficult for more novice players. We do not have a solution at this time as to how to handle the placement of these buttons (if we decide to change it at all).

Given more time, we would have liked to build multiple prototypes and test for look and feel as well as mock playtesting. This would have enabled the team to focus less on things like button placement in the beginning and more on getting an overall product that was easy for the player to hold and use. Button placement, although important, would come after the fact in this case. Relegating the button placement and mapping to a secondary issue and creating multiple styles of controllers would have likely given the team a better look at all of the possibilities we could create for a disabled gamer.Also, we would certainly like the capability to create working, electronic prototypes of the controllers to better enable true playtesting methods.

References Barton M., Loguidice B. (2015). A History of Gaming Platforms: Atari 2600 Video Computer System /VCS. Gamasutra. Retrieved from http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131956/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_.php?print=1

Cummings, A. H. (2007, January). The evolution of game controllers and control schemes and their effect on their games. The 17th Annual University of Southampton Multimedia Systems Conference (Vol. 21).

Hessey, Sue, Szu Han Chen, and Catherine White. (2014). Beyond Fingers and Thumbs - A Graceful Touch UI. Springer International Publishing. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-07626-3_53

ESRB. How Much Do You Know About Video Games? Share. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2015, from http://www.esrb.org/about/video-game-industry-statistics.aspx

Mooney, S., & Ryan, M. E. (1997). Get a grip. PC Magazine, 16(20), 361.

Peckham, M. (2014, March 11). Need a One-Handed Playstation 4 Controller? How About for Xbox One? Retrieved from Time Magazine: http://time.com/20127/need-a-one-handed-playstation-4-controller-how-about-for-xbox-one/

PRNewswire. (2008, June 11). Survey: 'Disabled Gamers' Comprise 20% of Casual Video Games Audience. Retrieved from PRNewswire: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/survey-disabled-gamers-comprise-20-of-casual-video-games-audience-57442172.html