Games become jobs: Looking through the eye of the submarine with an X-Box controller

Submarines feature a special device called a periscope that allows people inside the submarine to see what's going on above water. Controlling such an eye requires hours of training, and costs a whopping $38.000 per ship. However, the new generation sailors saw fit for a millennial-ready tool: the 30$ X-box controller from that children's’ playstore around the corner. 

When gaming, you’re looking at a virtual world, a simulation of fiction, or perhaps another reality. But for these sailors, the gaming-interface now shows the real world: an eye on the surface, moved with the familiar taps and twists of their childhood-controllers. Training times for these sailors decreased to minutes. We all know how they work, why wouldn’t we apply them beyond our comfy couches, right?

Video game controllers are just one of many innovations the Navy is using as it transitions into the 21st century. It’s already using virtual-reality simulators to train sailors, and exploring technology like 3D printing and robotic underwater drones. Games become jobs!