PC gamers consider their platform superior for the sheer processing power that can be brought to bear, as well as the inherent customisability of their rigs. Where they’re let down perhaps is in the typical keyboard and mouse interface, which tends to eschew fancy features such as haptic feedback which have long been standard on consoles. Aiming to rectify this, [Neutrino-1] put together a fancy haptic feedback system for FPS games.
The hack is quite elegant, using a Python app to scrape the GUI of FPS games for a health readout. The health numbers are gleaned using OpenCV to do optical character recognition, and the resulting data is sent to an ESP12E microcontroller over a USB serial connection. The ESP12E then controls a series of Neopixel LEDs and vibration motors, providing color and haptic feedback in response to the user’s health bar changing in game.
Using image recognition allows the system to be quickly reconfigured to work with different games, without the mess of having to learn different APIs for every different title. It’s a really fun way to quickly get a project interfacing with a piece of software that we’d love to see more of in future. It makes a nice complement to other hacks we’ve seen in this space, like the gaming mouse with recoil feedback. Video after the break.
Pc is tops because of the keyboard and mouse, the games that those controls enable, the creative freedom and limitless development of games. Not really “customization”. Sound like something dell or hp would say.
It is funny but I remember watching some people playing Elite back in the 80’s and they provided their own inner ear feedback by leaning back on their chair when tilting the nose of their spacecraft up, or leaning slightly to the left when rotating the spacecraft to the left. They were naturally providing their own feedback to enhance the reality of the game. The funny thing is that once you see people helping their own immersive experience you start to notice it more.
I’m sure I’ve ducked down while docking occasionally, or dodging a missile…
And you know… I never realized that before. Think I even did that playing it on the HP200LX.
………….. Laaaag …. you´re dead before you notice it.
Curious – what game is being played in this picture?
valorant
“Where they’re let down perhaps is in the typical keyboard and mouse interface, which tends to eschew fancy features such as haptic feedback which have long been standard on consoles.”
Insert face here into the new smack-a-tronic for when verbal slaps aren’t good enough.
There have been some attempts at haptic feedback devices for fps gaming on desktop but I think the main weakness is, the additional “realism” impairs the player and makes it harder to do well. I’m thinking of the Novint Falcon here but the concept is more general: gamers don’t necessarily want more immersive experiences if it puts them at a competitive disadvantage.
The haptic chair where one can feel arrows in all the wrong places.
“Oh, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune!”