US Navy to install XBox controllers for periscopes

Beginning this year, the United States Navy is going to start equipping some of its state-of-the-art, nuclear-powered submarines with Xbox 360 controllers.

After complaints from junior officers and sailors about the clunky controls used to direct submarine periscopes, the U.S. Navy will start using Xbox 360 controllers aboard Virginia-class submarines instead, the Virginian-Pilot reported Friday

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Two years ago, the U.S. Navy started testing the controllers as replacement controls for its newer, high-tech periscopes (called photonic masts) that are equipped with cameras and controlled with a large joystick (similar to those used to control helicopters). The testing took place in one of Lockheed Martin's labs, which found that old controls took hours of training to learn, whereas most people got a handle on the Xbox 360 controller within minutes.

Not only is the Xbox 360 controller easier to use, it's also more cost effective. The current photonic mast controls cost roughly $38,000, whereas an Xbox 360 controller can be bought online for about $20.

The 12-year-old controllers just seem better in every way.

The first submarine hitting the waters with an Xbox 360 controller will be the USS Colorado, which is expected to be commissioned this November, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

Along with implementing Xbox 360 controllers in submarines, the U.S. Navy is looking at other ways to bring in technology that personnel may already be familiar with, including iPads or other multi-touch surfaces, Senior Chief Mark Eichenlaub told the Virginian-Pilot.

“[The Navy] wants to bring in sailors with what they have at home on their personal laptop, their personal desktop, what they grew up with in a classroom," he told the Virginian-Pilot.