thoughthead

For years I’ve been enamored by unique user interfaces. While studying product design in college I read a book called The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman. This book literally changed the way I view the world around me, particularly how people interact with the rest of the world. That’s not to say this book is for everyone, it’s terribly dry but you’ll like it if you have any interest in the design of things that people use. Through my time in college I used this new found insight to develop my own theories on user interaction.

I also began collecting any obscure or different user interface devices I could get my hands on. Today my collections includes a number of devices from 3D mice to VR gloves, GPS receivers and unique keyboards, thumb-balls and touch-pads, etc. I’ve even written software in attempts to use these devices in in unique ways. You can imagine my excitement when I found out that Nintendo had a new secret weapon of a controller.

Nintendo has always been an innovator in the controller space, while they might not have always been the first instance in history to do things they’re usually the first to take a big risk in banking their company on a new and unique controller design. The NES introduced the idea of a D-Pad, the SNES introduced the idea of shoulder buttons and the 4 face button layout, the Virtualboy used a perfectly symmetrical and ambidextrous controller, the N64 introduced analog sticks, rumble feedback and the concept that a controller can be held more then one way, The DS made use of a touch screen, and now the Wii is pushing further with motion control as well as positional tracking and audio feedback. They’ve had their low points, like the Gamecube controller which concentrated more on ergonomics then anything else. Nintendo’s attempts have always been noble, they’ve always stuck their neck out to try something new and spur innovation in the game industry. That’s not to say that making a new controller is the only way to innovate, but it’s one of the few things you can change on a console that gets people’s creative juices flowing.

I wont get into this history of Sony’s controller design (that’s a discussion for another topic completely) but it’s quite clear that they’ve taken kindly to following Nintendo’s lead, though they tend to play it a bit safer then Nintendo, perhaps fearing public backlash if they stray too far from the norm they’ve created (as was seen when they showed the concept images of the “boomerang” controller design). They started with the SNES layout, then added the analogs and rumble from the N64 and finally for the PS3 they’ve added motion control from the Wii-Remote as well as analog triggers from numerous other controllers including the Gamecube’s.

Nintendo’s design is interesting from an academic point of view. There are many interesting things going on there, not just in terms of the technology but in terms of the progression from other Nintendo platforms as well as what it means in sociological terms and gaining the interest of the public. Lets start off with the name “Wii-Remote” or Wiimote as some have come to call it. Essentially the controller is first and foremost attempting to take on the shape and form of a typical television or DVD remote. While consoles are gaining more and more mainstream appeal each and every day they are still no where near as widely used as television. Nearly every person in modern society is familiar with television and how to use a remote control.

The best interfaces are the ones that don’t exist. The best possible interface is one that perhaps reads your thoughts and carries out your wishes. This might be possible sometime in the future but for now the best interface that we can hope for is one where the user is no longer aware of the input device and simply uses it as an extension of themselves. New gamers will often look down at the controller to figure out what button their pushing, veteran gamers will simply pick up a controller and start playing. This is a learned familiarity, and goes beyond just gaming controllers, it can be extended to the controls in your car, or playing a musical instrument. The way we interact with things is deliberate and visual at first but if used over time becomes an invisible extension of ourselves; often referred to becoming second nature. The TV remote is such a device, while it may not work exactly like a TV remote it looks and feels like one, you can point it at your TV and push a button like you’d do with a TV remote, it creates an instant familiarity. Many non gamers become frustrated with having to learn a new interface, once we reach a certain age it becomes increasingly difficult to learn new things. In my own research I’ve found that most personality and character development ends at about age 24, while I’ve read other research that shows the ability to learn new skills becoming difficult to retain at about that age as well. Perhaps this is why video games, particularly consoles are associated with children, adults simply find it too difficult to learn the controller. Using an artifact that many people, particularly adults and non-gamers already have years of familiarity with creates and instant familiarity with the gaming controller.

This isn’t Nintendo’s first attempt to make their interface devices similar to those people were already familiar with. You might have seen their portable console, the DS, which uses a touch screen and pen shaped stylus. The pen is most definitely a device familiar to nearly everyone on the planet. No doubt the familiarity in the interface is what has allowed Nintendo’s DS to appeal to adults who typically don’t play games. The DS holds a similarity to a paper notebook or PDA; a small folding base that fits in your hand with a pen shaped stylus in the other. It’s famili ar to anyone who uses pocket sized devices on the go. Similarly the Wii-Remote fits into the TV room space finding itself at home with the most common of TV room tools, the remote. The similarities go beyond that though. You could view the DS as a sort of testing ground, or mini version of the Wii. The DS’s capabilities are limited. You have a 2D plane and a point on that plane which you can track. The Wii-Remote can do this also as it uses IR sensors to locate a point on the display where it is being pointed (similar to a light gun), In both these instances the interfaces is one of a simple pointer, the Wii-Remote goes to the next step however and adds in motion sensors as well.

Motion sensing is probably one of the best invisible interfaces available today. Beyond using a pen or a remote people universally understand how to move things. The problem with motion sensing in the past hasn’t been with the motion sensors but with the interpretation of their outputs. A lot of movements that the human body makes are just noise when compared to the movements that the person intends to make. This becomes increasingly apparent with devices such as VR gloves were the person pretends to hold or move an item. Much of how we move is based on the resistance of the things around us, without that resistance we move differently and the resulting data makes even less sense. Tracking how the human body is moving is incredibly difficult because of all the useless data flying around, it can be interpreted but it’s often expensive and clumsy for the user who has nothing to interact with.

The best and most versatile motion sensors are what is referred to as a wand. These devices are shaped like a paper towel tube and include motion sensing along all six axis. The idea is rather then tracking the user’s movements you can track the movements of the objects the user is trying to move. This cuts out a whole lot of the noise and has the added benefit of giving the user something to interact with. The benefit of a wand is that it can be held in one hand or two, depending on the application. it’s the most versatile because people can easily relate it to a number of everyday objects including clubs, whips, swords, pens, levers, handles, valves, rods and other small objects, with a little tweaking to the wand’s design it can be used for a number of other items such as guns and steering wheels. Compare that to a traditional controller shape and it’s not possible to do most of those things. If you handed someone a Gamecube controller and told them to hold it like golf club, or a fishing rod, they’d probably look at you confused, and many people would probably hold it differently. With something like the Wii-Remote most people will instantly understand how to hold it. Beyond that being that it’s built for one hand it can be used in either hand, meaning the Wii-Remote (and to some extent the DS as well) is ambidextrous which furthers it’s appeal to those who are left handed and had trouble functioning in or simply avoided the right handed world of video games.

For those who don’t know six axis is the highest amount of control through space you can have. If you draw a cross on a piece of paper + then place the tip of your pen in the center sticking straight out of the page you’ll see three of the six linear axis. These axis that you’ve created represent positional movement in space objects and front to back, side to side and up and down. The second three axis are rotational axis, these represent the orientation of the object, basically the object can spin around any of these three lines. With these 6 data elements any object can be placed anywhere and positioned anyway.

If you hold an object in one of your hands and move it around, try to imagine how the six different axis will see that movement. How difficult is it to move along each axis? How difficult is it to rotate along each axis? Now hold that object with both hands, how difficult is it to move now, you’ll see that there is a lot more effort involved and your movements are a lot more limited when holding it using both hands then with just one. This should give you some idea of the untapped power the SIXAXIS will never use but the Wii-Remote will be able to leverage.
Sony has used some of the same ideals as Nintendo but in most ways they have missed the mark, mostly due to not wanting to change their core controller design. This comes from the same background as Nintendo. They have a design that people are familiar with and if they change it those people will have to learn a whole new controller design. Essentially where Nintendo is changing their controller design to something more universally acceptable to pull in new users, Sony is staying as close to their old controller design as possible for fear that they’ll alienate their current users. The corporate mind sets make perfect sense from both of their standpoints Nintendo is at the bottom of the market, they’re going to make decisions to increase their market share. Sony is at the top of the market, they’re going to make decisions that hold on to the market share they’ve got.

Sony’s controller designs have always been to keep what they’ve got an tack new features on top of it. The original controller took the SNES design and tacked on extra shoulder buttons, the Dual-Shock took that and tacked on analog sticks and rumble motors, the Dual-Shock too tacked on pressure sensitive buttons, the SIXAXIS tacks on motion control, a guide button and analog triggers. The problem with designing a new controller without effecting any existing characteristics, is that you end up with a poorly designed Frankenstein’s monster of a controller; not in terms of size but in terms of flexibility, approachability, and comfort. While it’s important to keep in mind the designs people are currently used to when considering new designs, it’s also important to take every last little element into consideration when designing something new.

The new features they’ve added to their controllers are nice, but without really reconsidering the controller design as a whole they loose something in the process. Case and point: the Wii-Remote and SIXAXIS both offer six axis motion control but the Wii-Remote is far more versatile being that Nintendo reconsidered the controller design with the new features and determined that a controller closer to a wand design was more beneficial then a traditionally shaped controller.

Based on the chosen controller designs the Wii-Remote will see real world simulation usefulness, people will be holding it like golf clubs, baseball bats, footballs, guns, swords and other melee weapons, as well as open doors, push levers, pull handles, throw a punch, etc. then they’ll turn it sideways and use it to keep their balance in on a skateboard or steer a vehicle. The SIXAXIS will be limited to the later examples that utilize both of the players hands, this is dramatically limiting to the possibilities of the motion control feature.

It’s clear that the motion control provided by the Wii-Remote will offer a more natural real world experience then the motion control offered by the SIXAXIS add in the fact that it also includes motion feedback in the forum of rumble, as well as audio feedback through a built in speaker.� Player’s will receive appropriate feedback to add to the immersion. Sony having removed the rumble feature (for whatever reason you’d like to believe) is taking a step in the opposite direction. Whether or not you liked the rumble feature most games used it did add to the immersion, holding a fake gun and firing will always feel wrong when compared to one that jostles your hand a bit, or wielding a virtual sword or virtual baseball bat wont feel right if it never feels like it’s connecting with something. Even a little jostle from last gen controllers when your car hit a wall or your character got shot. It’s all about making the interface an extension of yourself and receiving feedback from the interface helps in that pursuit.
Overall I’m happy that Nintendo took the direction that they did, and while I could be happier with the SIXAXIS I am happy that Sony did decided to include motion control in the SIXAXIS. If Nintendo hadn’t pushed innovation on the controller front it would have seriously stagnated interface design for another five years. While the PS3 might not be able to fully utilize the motion control features the SIXAXIS offers it will start developers thinking, and with Sony being the market leader it will undoubtedly allow consumers to start considering how much they like or dislike the technology. Nintendo lit the match but Sony is the gasoline poured all over the industry, Nintendo’s venture into this type of interface would have been but a small and pretty flame but Sony has the clout to carry it everywhere even if it is limited. Both consoles will have glorified tech demos in the beginning using basic and rudimentary ideas on how to leverage motion control, both will evolve into more natural and invisible uses of the technology, and perhaps in 2011 we’ll see some new console controller that make even better use of this technology. Perhaps at that point Sony will be willing to stick their neck out a little further for the sake of driving controller innovation.