Gamepads are essential to gamers of both PC and console persuasions nowadays, providing better freedom of movement than the mouse and keyboard can provide. With that said, even the best controllers aren’t exactly geared to cater for individual styles, preferences or hand-shapes. A new Kickstarter campaign dubbed “Grifta” is out to change that.
Grifta is a modular gaming controller that consists of three units — a left, a right and central connector — that can be used in unison as a complete gaming controller or separate from each other, like a fighter pilot.
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For the most part the Grifta aims to solve the stagnant gamepad issues mentioned before, and provide gamers with a more customised gaming experience:
The typical console gamepad has been developed over the years to be a compact “one size fits all” device. The ergonomic principle is: fingers and thumbs must be arranged around the flat plane of the main PCB (Printed Circuit Board). The PCB is the rigid electronic board upon which the joysticks and buttons are fixed to and it’s this unsophisticated sandwich construction layout that dictates the ergonomics. The tail is wagging the dog!
Our solution is to bring the gamepad components to the fingers and thumbs. The triggers, buttons, joystick, and D-Pad are placed to suit the ergonomics of the human hand, and not for the convenience of a simple manufacturing package
At this point you’re probably wondering why this hasn’t been thought of before, but it seems that modular technology will be a primary technology genre in the years to come — just look at Google’s Project Ara smartphone, for instance.
Read more: Google’s Project Ara outs new Nvidia Tegra K1, Marvell quad-core modules
Grifta is also versatile and cross-platform compatible and therefore can be used with a gaming mouse, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC. But this is just the beginning.
Grifta’s various components can be used with a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet, as pictured above. The creators are also suggesting that Grifta can be used alongside a mouse. Nice! There are also plans for VR integration, which would futureproof the device.
While the project is currently baby-new on Kickstarter going live 16 February, the device itself is production ready and raring to go. At the time of writing, a Grifta can be had for £69, while the entire project hopes to raise around £65 000. It’s currently just over a fifth of the way there.
The first production ready units will begin shipping July 2015.
