Wondering if anyone has experimented with using controllers (PS/xbox/other) to do anything other than gaming ?

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    The Steam Deck and Steam controller have touchpads which make them totally usable as a mouse for normal PC usage like web browsing

    • NinjaCheetah@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      DualShock 4 and DualSense touch pads do this too! They even support multi touch so you can do left/right/middle click by using multiple fingers.

    • neoman4426@fedia.io
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      9 months ago

      Hell, not optimal by any means but I even had a serviceable for light usage setup using analog sticks and a mapping program before Steam Input came out. Much better with the trackpads

  • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    Actually yes.

    I worked on a crew building pole barns in Colorado. For anyone unaware you basically dig a bunch of holes, set wooden columns in them and pour concrete around them, then hang the rest of the structure off those columns.

    We had a dude that swore by the xbox 360 controller. We tried to get him to use a framing hammer to drive his nails but he would only use that 360 controller.

    We also did a lot of acid. If you see a weird barn in Colorado, look for the microsoft logo pressed into the wood next to the siding nails.

  • CalcProgrammer1@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    In college I was on the robotics team. We used several different controllers to drive various robots. I made a little tank steering robot that was remote controlled from a PC with an Xbox 360 controller. I later rebuilt it to use a Raspberry Pi and added a pan/tilt mount for the camera controlled from the controller’s D-pad. We also used a Wiimote to control our competition robot, using the accelerometer for steering which was pretty cool. This was in like 2010 when motion controls were still a relatively new and cool thing.

  • SuperSynthia@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Several modular synth modules use joysticks for control over parameters, but one of the coolest I’ve seen is one from Delptronics that uses a wii nunchuck controller to send out control voltage. Hagiwo I believe also has a similar DIY design.

  • Contingencyfork@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I do recall a gaming controller being used to pilot the titan submersible that is now on the ocean floor. May their souls rest in peace.

  • OuterRem@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    We had a subcontractor drive a wired camera mounted drone through the sewers with it. Some use LIDAR or SONAR instead of just cameras. Game controllers are pretty common for these.

  • DetachablePianist@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    In Ghostbusters 2 they rigged up a Nintendo joystick to drive the statue of liberty through the streets of NYC. Does that count?

  • zout@fedia.io
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    9 months ago

    Some guys I used to know used them to make music, as some sort of midi controller.

  • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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    9 months ago

    All a controller is is just some buttons on a wire in a portable form factor.

    If you want to use it for Excel, you can.

    I used one on a Raspberry Pi to drive a self build remote car wirelessly.