One (Video Game) Controller to Rule Them All: Game Technology Invades the Military

Military reporters were buzzing this week about the new Universal Control System (UCS) from defense contractor Raytheon. The device is designed to control unmanned aerial vehicles (AEVs), and borrows liberally from videogame technologies.

Mark Scott from BusinessWeek reports from England:

On display at the biennial Farnborough Air Show in Britain, this next-generation ground control system for the likes of General Atomics’ Predator UAV has more in common with the Sony (SNE) PlayStation 3 than with the Northrop Grumman (NOC) F-14 Tomcat made famous by the classic 1980s movie Top Gun.

David Hambling over at Wired notes a variety of videogame technologies are finding their way into military applications.

- A Wii-mote controller is used for bomb disposal robots

- X-box contollers are used for piloting drones and robots

- The world’s fastest computer, to be used for nuclear simulations, is made using chips originally designed for gaming systems

- DARPA is developing technologies for ground forces from gaming chips that include radar, mapping, and tracking of enemy forces in real time while a soldier is in combat

References:
Hambline, D. (2008, July 19). Game controllers driving drones, nukes. [Online]. Retrieved July 20, 2008 from http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/07/wargames.html

Scott, M. (2008, July 16). Raytheon taps video games to pilot drones. BusinessWeek. [Online]. Retrieved July 20, 2008 from http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2008/
gb20080716_470794.htm