Military using video game tech to control vehicles

Gamers are accustomed to using console controllers to dish out virtual death and destruction, but military forces at home and overseas are investigating the possibility of using them to deliver attacks of a much more concrete nature.

Complicated weapons systems like the U.S. Air Force's MQ-1 Predator are first in line to benefit from the new developments, which aim to exploit recruits' familiarity with console controllers to ease training requirements. Wired reports arms manufacturer Raytheon is demonstrating the system, which uses technology from Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's Wii controllers, at an air show in England this week.

Robotic aircraft like the Predator have seen operations in theaters including Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq, where they perform ground attack and reconnaissance missions. Currently, the Predator is controlled with a single joystick and a QWERTY keyboard, but Raytheon hopes the new system will prove more intuitive and reduce accidents.

Whether Raytheon means accidents of the "Private, you've flown the Predator into a sand dune again," or of the "Whoops, that was the wrong house, wasn't it?" varieties isn't immediately clear. Considering a Predator runs U.S. taxpayers a cool $3 million, we're rather hoping it's both.

Wired also reports the British Army is using what appears to be an off-brand Xbox 360 controller in a Lockheed Martin-designed system for controlling aerial drones. Plans are also afoot to use the Wii's remote to control bomb-disposal robots.

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