Gaming should be for everyone.

So what’s the problem?

For people with fine motor control difficulties - such as people living with Dyspraxia, Parkinson's disease, or injuries - gaming can be a difficult and painful exercise.

Using a game controller requires precise and rapid movements, unfortunately this is not possible for everyone. For example: moving your thumb from the A button to the B button might be something you take for granted, but it’s also something that’s very difficult (or even impossible) for people with fine motor control difficulties. For small controllers such as the Nintendo Joy-Con, this is even more of an issue.

In 2021 we are fortunate that there are several adaptive controllers on the market that were designed for people with disabilities or fine motor control difficulties. Unfortunately, adaptive controllers can be:

Costly
Not suitable for all scenarios

For example: you want to play a local-multiplayer game with your friend who doesn’t game normally and who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, but the Joy-Con controller buttons are too small for them to press precisely. Buying an adaptive controller is too expensive and it won’t be used frequently. This means that your friend won’t be able to play games with you.

How we’re fixing the problem:

Our idea was to design a 3D-printable adapter that converts a regular Joy-Con into an oversized ”Big-Con” with large easy-to-press buttons and joy-stick. By enlarging the buttons we allow people with fine motor control difficulties to more easily interact with the controller.

3D-printing is an inexpensive way to manufacture items. If you don’t own a 3D-printer, it’s possible to use an online 3D-printing and delivery service at a low cost. The only items that need to be purchased are a few screws and springs.

Controller comparison graph

The above graph shows that the Big-Con is positioned between a standard Joy-Con and an adaptive controller in terms of cost and accessibility. It’s not as fully-featured an adaptive controller, however it is much less expensive.

For a closer look at the Big-Con please view the video at the top of the page.

How does it work?

It’s super simple! 3D-print each component and assemble the Big-Con. Then you just insert your existing Joy-Con and attach the lid. When you move the joystick or press the buttons on the Big-Con, there are 3D-printed mechanical components inside the Big-Con that will press the corresponding button on the Joy-Con. You can watch the video for more info on this. Assembly guide

How did we make it?

Computer-Aided Design (CAD):

All parts were designed in the free Autodesk Fusion360 CAD software. This software allowed us to design each component individually and then assemble them all together to confirm everything works before we 3D-print each component. 3D printer

3D-Printing:

After a component was finished being designed, it would be exported as an STL file which would then be 3D-printed. There were over 20 individual components that had to be 3D-printed for this project. The Big-Con was assembled using springs to center the joystick as well as to push the buttons back up after they’ve been pressed. 3D printer

Build it yourself!

The Big-Con is designed so that anyone can 3D-print it and assemble it using minimal off-the-shelf parts.

What you’ll need:

Print all of the .STL files for V1 of the Big-Con (can be downloaded from our GitHub repo, look for the Try it out section below)
18x 10mm M3 screws and nuts
8x compression springs (3/8”x 3/4” )
4x extension springs (5/16”x1-1/8")

What to do:

Assembly info can be found on the GitHub page

Assembled Big-Con

What’s next?

Due to time constraints there are currently a few issues with Big-Con that we aim to fix shortly after the conclusion of this hackathon, we also plan on adding the following features:

🆕 More responsive buttons

🆕 Easier assembly and disassembly process

🆕 Greater modularity and compatibility with Right Joy-Cons

Blue mascot