Fidget spinners finally have a new purpose other than catering to people with psychological disorders, as one gamer has displayed skill in using one as a controller for his "Overwatch" session.
Twitch streamer Rudeism has been working on a fidget spinner gaming setup for a long while, and it has finally been completed recently. The streamer has been able to put up together several fidget spinners to replace the functions of a mouse and keyboard and was able to play his favorite "Overwatch" character using the improvised device.
The controller works by moving a particular spinner connected to a particular action in-game, where a total of five fidget spinners are connected to an Arduino board, each with its own rotary encoder. The circuitry then detects any movement based on the direction where the spinner turns and registers it as controls for the first-person shooter (FPS).
Despite the clunkiness of the controls and its impracticality, Rudeism was able to land two kills in a game session, somehow proving that it is possible to become adept in the game using fidget spinners as players would using a typical mouse and keyboard setup. That said, he may have just been lucky with them.
Rudeism has also further explained on his own Reddit thread how the device works for those who are interested in trying out their own setups or have a lot of fidget spinners lying around in disuse. It does seem to be a lot cooler and more interactive than using the keyboard, though how it fares for other characters which require more precise aiming and hand-eye coordination remains to be seen.
This was also not the first time Rudeism has attempted something bizarre with a game controller, as last year, he was successful in controlling "Overwatch" gunslinger Winston using a pile of bananas wired to a circuitry, similar to how his fidget spinner setup was made. Apart from that, Rudeism has also earned a reputation in the gaming community for beating the first boss of "Dark Souls 3," a game notorious for its punishing difficulty, using only a dance pad.
