Why the construction sector needs video gamers
WHO knew? Those ‘lazy’ teenagers wasting their days playing video games have actually been perfecting the skills required for the next generation of construction worker.
The workers at a Kaikohe based construction contractor could soon be using a device similar to a modern video game controller to operate equipment and machinery from the safety of a remote vantage point.
The new controller being developed by a local robotics startup company has an uncanny resemblance to the sleek and ergonomic controllers used to operate modern console gaming devices such as the Nintendo Wii and the Playstation. With its stubby thumb-operated joysticks and array of conveniently-placed buttons, the device would look perfectly at home on the floor of an teenager’s rumpus room.
Instead of using the device to race control digital characters on a television or computer screen, the robotics firm hopes it will enable construction workers to control construction equipment with heightened precision and ease from the safety of a remote vantage point.
“The controller has been made to operate just like a modern gaming controller so that it will be more familiar and usable for a younger generation of construction professionals, who have been weaned on video games from an early age” says its inventor.
This makes the device far easier to use than most other control options currently available on the market, which often possess bewildering control configurations that can take novices a while to grapple with.
The young people that have been testing the prototype agree. "I’ve been playing games such Grand Theft Auto and Halo for years” says one apprentice. “The equipment I am learning to use has the same controls as my Xbox, so it’s feels like I have been using it for years.”
http://sourceable.net/construction-takes-its-cue-from-video-games-controls/