As if it were a video game, the missing submersible dedicated to searching for the remains of the Titanic was controlled by a humble wireless controller dedicated to PC games. The latest information that has come to light about the OceanGate Expeditions tourist submarine reveals that this was the tool to direct the exploration vehicle.
It’s a $30 Logitech F710 PC controller from 2010, a low-key option for missions as serious as the gizmo was intended for. It’s basically a classic wireless two thumbstick controller for PC that uses 2.4GHz communications to a USB receiver.
Although it may seem frivolous or even an unnecessary risk to the safety of the ship’s passengers, the truth is that these types of controllers are very commonly used to drive type-type vehicles, some much larger than the submersible that has suffered this incident. The journalist specializing in video games for The Washington Post, Gene Park, explained it yesterday in a tweet:
This controller is still selling out among gamers at a good rate despite being released more than a decade ago and has managed to outgrow its bulky, dated-looking design by today’s standards.
The use of this wireless gamepad has come to light after users of Twitter and other platforms have recovered a segment of CBS Sunday Morning broadcast in November 2022 where you can see the founder and CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, yielding the command to the journalist who inspects the submersible.
“We handle it all with this one game controller,” Rush says as he holds up the humble Logitech F710, which appears to have 3D-printed thumb extensions added to the joysticks further to improve control precision of the submersible that’s still missing in the game. Atlantic.
In addition, Rush notes positively that there is “a single button” throughout the vehicle and that the experience of going down and back to the surface “should be like an elevator.” The journalist, for his part, stated at the time that many parts of the submarine seem improvised, such as the computer screens, an illuminated grab bar and the use of construction pipes as ballast.