Krasniy

     The design principles for contemporary gamepads - fitting comfortably into hands, buttons operable with mostly static hand positions with only fingers moving, and ease of combining button commands - appealed not only to gamers, but also to people in professions in need of constantly “controlling things.” In this case, gamepads essentially function as more accessible, affordable and comfortable remote controllers or control panels.

Photo: U.S. Navy

     A Daily Press article (September 15, 2017) introduces a case of U.S. Navy submarine operators using Xbox 360 controllers to control the submarine’s periscopes. In this case, Xbox 360 controller, costing less than $30 was able to replace a control panel that roughly costs $38,000 due to its comfortability, light weight, affordability and accessibility to crew members who had previous experiences of using Xbox controllers.

Army operator using ROCU-7® controller to operate an MGTR®. Photo: Roboteam website

     Roboteam, a global provider of tactical unmanned ground vehicles stated in the introduction pages for its MTGR(Micro Tactical Ground Robot)® drones used for CBRN(chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense)&HAZMAT(hazardous material), EOD(explosive ordance disposal) and ISR(intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance), that the drones are controlled with touch-screen operator consoles with gamepad-style controllers.

BodyViz interactive 3D anatomy software, used with Xbox 360 gamepad. Photo: SBodyViz website

     BodyViz is an an interactive 3D anatomy software that scans and renders patients' anatomy data into 3D, allowing surgeons to plan different ways to perform dissection and surgery on patients. The software uses Xbox 360 controller for its features, and according to an Iowa State Daily article, such feature was introduced to take advantage of the fact that many people are comfortable with using gamepads.

     In such cases, what makes gamepads so important is the fact that many members of the younger generation are familiar with their designs, and feel comfortable using them even outside of video games. This phenomen not only shows how the younger generation -as they grew up- adapted to a category of tools accessible to them, but may also help define a key component which makes the members of younger generation more "tech-savvy".

     While it may be true that the usage of gamepads in professional fields somewhat blur the distinction between game and work, it is just one of the many signs that we, as a society, should review the role of video games and its surrounding culture in forming the characteristics and thinking processes of the younger generation and especially, gamers. Video games have long been more than simple series of amusement and entertainment, and for those who call themselves gamers, it is definitely no less than an important part that forms their identities.