5 Creative Uses For An Xbox Controller

When the Xbox 360 game console was originally released back in 2005, most people thought of it as merely an upgrade to Microsoft's widely popular Xbox. The device did go on to become one of the best-selling gaming consoles of its time, but that wasn't the only thing it did. The Xbox 360 controller went on to have a life of its own, thanks to its generally comfortable ease of use. In 2006, Microsoft released software that made the controller work with its Windows operating system, which powered most of the world's PCs. This move effectively opened up support for a whole other world of gamers, who could now use the controller by simply plugging it into their computer.

Over time, Xbox controller and its software became so widely used that tinkerers started imagining how to use them in unconventional ways. After all, if you stop thinking of the controller as a gaming device, it's really a comfortable, set of joysticks and buttons that can do all sorts of things. Here are some of the most interesting ideas people have come up with.

Usually, when you purchase a flying drone, it comes bundled with a rather basic controller that's either a standalone device or a module to connect with a smartphone and app. Most people probably won't switch out the controller, but fans of the Xbox controller's comfortable grip aren't like most people. Drones aren't usually equipped with the necessary software to facilitate a connection to an Xbox controller natively, but that's nothing a little tinkering can't fix.

In 2020, YouTuber Dennis Baldwin connected his Xbox controller to his DJI Mavic Mini drone, allowing him to steer it with the same finesse you'd get out of a session with "Microsoft Flight Simulator." Since this was a hack,  Baldwin needed to build a connection from scratch that would be compatible with both his iPhone and the drone's software. He was able to do this by creating an app that effectively sent joystick moves and button presses from his Xbox controller to the iPhone, and then from the app to the drone.

Bomb disposal is one of the most dangerous jobs there is, where experts risk their lives to safely deactivate something that otherwise might kill them or someone else. These days, bomb disposal teams often have remote control robots that help disable bombs without putting people in as much danger. Of course, these bomb disposal robots can have extremely complicated control setups, which can add to tension in the heat of the moment.

In the late 2000s, things became a lot simpler. Robotics company iRobot added Xbox controller support for its bomb disposal robot, PackBot. The device's original controls came in a complicated laptop-like design that took a lot of training, a setup that wasn't ideal for US Military personnel using it to disable explosives in combat zones. To make the learning and controlling process easier, iRobot began using Xbox or Xbox-like controllers, which the operators were able to understand and use much more easily.

When you think of a periscope in a submarine, you probably think of a long, metal tube poking out of the ceiling and a couple of handles on the sides. In truth, submarine periscopes haven't worked like that in years. Since the early 2000s, submarines have mostly used photonics masts, an electronic imaging system with cameras and sensors that can get you a view of the outside without a long metal tube part.

One downside to photonics masts are the controls, which are both clunky to use and expensive to manufacture. This is why, in 2017, submarines in the United States Navy did away with the complex controls and started using Xbox controllers to control their periscopes. Any regular Xbox controller could be hooked into the system and used to pan and zoom the periscope's image. Not only is an Xbox controller significantly cheaper than a set of complicated custom controls, but most of the operators have already used one while playing video games.

In the hit 2007 video game "Halo 3," there's a weapon called the Spartan Laser. It was a large shoulder-mounted weapon that, when used, fires a massive laser beam. Something like that doesn't exist in real life, that we know of, and the military prototypes that have become public haven't reached the point where a single soldier could easily cart one around. Still, laser weaponry has been improving over the last few decades, and much like the Spartan Laser, it's reached the point where you can control it with the trigger button on an Xbox controller.

In 2014, the United States Military ran tests on an experimental laser weapon designed by Boeing known as the High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator. At a glance, it was a huge laser cannon mounted to the back of a military truck. Instead of an elaborate, expensive, and confusing control scheme, the person using this experimental weapon only had to hold an Xbox controller in their hands. With just the twin sticks and some button presses, soldiers could shoot down drones and mortar rounds with the same ease as fending off a fictional alien attack.

A CT scan or MRI is an important procedure that, when done well, can reveal a lot of information about a person's body or whatever else is being looked at without having to cut anything open. You wouldn't be getting an invasive scan if there wasn't something in the scanned spot that you were specifically looking for, after all. Reading the results of a CT scan usually involves a mouse and keyboard, but that can be tough when you're trying to carefully find a spot in a 3D image.

That's where CT scan and MRI program BodyViz comes in, offering support for Xbox controllers. The BodyViz software allows surgeons to easily zoom, pan, and fly through a patient's scan results in a much more intuitive manner because, after all, billions of people have played video games by now. Ironically, many PC users prefer a mouse and keyboard instead of a controller when playing a shooting game, but apparently if you're looking through a scan of someone's head or body, it's the other way around.