1. Fearsome Thorny Pigeons
Full Sail University
03/15/2015
William Lopez
Brian Meeth
Elizabeth Fordham
Laz Matech
Stephen Cleary

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. While 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.
("SpecialtyGaming Controllers",2015)

5. “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

6. The 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).

7. My 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)

8. 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.

9. Our 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.

11. “Knowledge in the world acts as its own reminder. Knowledge in the head
is efficient: no search and interpretation of the environment is
required.” (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 translates
knowledge from the world, to the head.

12. “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

13. Today’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 praise
Gamemakers like Gameloft who
were quick to optimize their games to
use it. Best use: first-person shooters.”
(Victor H. 2010)

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. Diablo 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.

17. 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.

18. Geometry 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.

20. ● 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

21. What 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.

22. Flynn, 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.html
Peckham, 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.jpg
N.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

23. Victor H. (December 14th 2010) Gyroscope apps and games, PhoneArena.comhttp://www.phonearena.com/news/Gyroscope-
apps-and-games_id15299
Specialty 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.