Flexible game controller takes 3 forms

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MindsNHands Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based venture firm, has developed the “Wiz” transformable game controller which takes three forms: a foldable form in the “flexible mode,” a bar-like form in the “stick mode” and a bracelet-like form in the “ring mode.”

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Equipped with an acceleration sensor and buttons, it can be used for controlling, for example, applications software. It recognizes each mode by using a mechanism similar to a reed switch, the company said.

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MindsNHands demonstrated two applications software developed for the controller.

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One is an application called Bolt (photo below), which is for controlling a vehicle in a game. In accordance with the form of the controller, the form of the vehicle changes. For example, the vehicle is a car in the ring mode, and the controller is used like a steering wheel. When the controller has a U-shaped form in the flexible mode, the vehicle is a two-wheeled vehicle. In the stick mode, the vehicles is an airplane, and the controller is used like a control stick.

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The other application is Beats, which is for playing music. When the controller is placed on a desk in the flexible mode and the buttons on its surface are pressed, it sounds like an electronic piano. When the controller is shaken in the stick and ring modes, it sounds like a drum and tambourine, respectively.

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MindsNHands developed the Wiz based on the results of a joint research with the National University of Singapore and Keio University. The company aims to raise money through crowdfunding within 2016.

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