Home Gaming Ben Heck reinvents the WASD idea

Ben Heck reinvents the WASD idea

1 min read
22

Ben Heck

I’m a huge fan of Ben Heck and his weird and wacky inventions. This latest one is Ben’s attempt at improving the standard WASD controller format for all PC games.

Granted there really isn’t anything wrong with the current system but my fingers just aren’t supple enough anymore to hit all the required keys so this idea actually appeals to me.

So basically what has Ben done? He’s simply added two floor pedals and connected them up via a HID (Human Interface Device) which then translates the pedal motion to keyboard buttons.

Now when I think pedals I immediately think they are going to be used to control motion but we all know fingers are quicker than feet so that wouldn’t really work.

But what about if you used the pedal to crouch or toggle sprint or even just to do something as simple as throwing a grenade or toggling a door to open.

I wish I had some of his technical abilities, I’d love a little macro board on the side of the computer that I could just use to push a single button and boot up certain things I require.

This whole process was sponsored by Newark who sell all the neat goodies you are going to need if you are going to attempt something like this.

Last Updated: April 22, 2014

22 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief in Space

    April 22, 2014 at 12:36

    Pedals? Hmmm, could work for crouch I guess. Left pedal crouch, right pedal sprint?

    Nah, my elitist PC hands can handle the multiple commands 😛

    Jokes apart, seems like it could work

    Reply

    • Mossel

      April 22, 2014 at 13:46

      Almost like Time Crisis at wonderland!

      Reply

  2. Umar's Sin

    April 22, 2014 at 12:40

    Even at work, my fingers will always rest on WASD with my pinky on shift and thumb on spcebar

    Reply

    • Rags

      April 22, 2014 at 12:42

      lol, I was reading the article exactly like you describe. Damn, never took notice I did this 😀

      Reply

      • Umar's Sin

        April 22, 2014 at 12:46

        Totally insane, the gaming blood runs thick in our veins

        Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Space

      April 22, 2014 at 12:45

      Hahaha, same here

      Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Space

      April 22, 2014 at 12:45

      I suspect at Avo’s work it’s permanently on either Alt+Tab or Alt+C, or even CTRL+Shift+B

      Reply

      • Umar's Sin

        April 22, 2014 at 12:48

        Lol don’t want anyone to catch him. I wonder what his history looks like

        Reply

        • Unavengedavo

          April 22, 2014 at 13:05

          • Umar's Sin

            April 22, 2014 at 13:07

            LOL Womens24? Nice going there, that is a very informative site….

          • Unavengedavo

            April 22, 2014 at 13:12

            No… wait… I can explain that O_o

          • Rince the Unhuggable

            April 22, 2014 at 14:57

            HAHAHAHA!

          • Skoobaz

            April 22, 2014 at 15:47

            You sir.. are busted!

          • Admiral Chief in Space

            April 22, 2014 at 13:39

            BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

      • Unavengedavo

        April 22, 2014 at 13:01

        Actually I sit very comfortable where no one can see me and most of my searches are borderline safe for work. And if I am “caught” and offend some one…
        http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/342/516/85f.png

        Reply

        • Kensei Seraph

          April 22, 2014 at 13:03

          There’s how many pixels in that square?
          You really must care a lot.

          Reply

      • Mossel

        April 22, 2014 at 13:44

        lol mine is definitely on Alt+Tab. Browsing Lazygamer when suddenly a wild boss appears, he’s super angry. Then I just alt+tab to a random spreadsheet, can’t go wrong with a spreadsheet.

        Reply

    • Unavengedavo

      April 22, 2014 at 12:58

      Muscle memory 😀

      Reply

    • Skoobaz

      April 22, 2014 at 15:46

      Yip, And the work colleagues walk past thinking I’m jamming something. “No FTL here! Move on, just move on!”

      Reply

  3. Alien Emperor Trevor

    April 22, 2014 at 12:49

    No thanks, my limited brain couldn’t handle it. A kb&m are enough. That’s the nice thing about being a lefty – the number pad, directions & pgup/pgdn/etc are very convenient.

    Reply

  4. zeemonkeyman

    April 22, 2014 at 13:13

    No.

    Reply

  5. Sk3tz0

    April 22, 2014 at 13:49

    I can see it now. Left Pedal Sprint Right is jump..and how ppl will attempt to do that speed jump trick in most FPS.. like with MW2 to get on the Planes wing in terminal stage.. god i miss that game..

    Reply

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