Since the weekend, the internet has been focused on the fate of Titan, a private five-passenger submarine that went missing(opens in a new tab) while on a tourist expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic.
As rescuers race to find the missing sub, questions have emerged about the safety of the sub’s construction. The vehicle, designed to travel down 12,500 feet to the resting place of the Titanic, can only be opened from the outside(opens in a new tab). A lawsuit was filed in 2018 over the safety of the hull(opens in a new tab).
One of the standout details is that, according to photos and videos of the submarine(opens in a new tab) from previous expeditions, it’s piloted using a video game controller.
The internet, being the internet, found out that the controller in question in many of the photos and videos was the Logitech G F710(opens in a new tab).
There are a couple of very important bits of context to note right away. One is that we can’t be certain whether the expedition that went missing was using this controller or another one, as Kotaku(opens in a new tab) pointed out that a few different controllers have been seen in photos of the submarine. Another is that the controller first came out in 2010 and costs $30.
Is it even a good controller for gaming, let alone steering a submarine at crushing ocean depths?
With more than 4,000 customer reviews on Amazon, it has a rating of 4.2 stars out of 5. Customers were especially high on the ergonomics of the controller.
Another site, LevelSkip(opens in a new tab), featured common complaints, including the use of AA batteries, the quality of the D-pad, and occasional wireless hiccups.
While the use of the controller to steer a submarine may feel like a wild concept, game controllers and game controller-inspired designs are commonly used by militaries across the world to steer drones, tanks, and other vehicles. The United States Navy has used game controllers to operate parts of its submarines, including periscopes, according to Vice(opens in a new tab).
As of Tuesday afternoon, the search for the missing submarine(opens in a new tab) continues.
