PS5 DualSense Controller Used to Perform Surgery

A PlayStation 5 DualSense controller was recently used to perform surgery from a remote location. As we’ve seen on multiple occasions in the past, video game controllers can often be used for purposes other than playing games. This was perhaps most prominently seen this past year with the Titan submersible, which featured steering controls in the form of a Logitech PC controller. Now, PlayStation’s current gamepad of choice has been used in a much more complicated operation that was nearly 6,000 miles away.

Reported by Fox (via PlayStation Lifestyle) recently, surgeons in Zurich, Switzerland were able to use a PS5 controller to conduct an endoscopy on a pig that resided in Hong Kong. Those in Zurich were able to view the operation on a live video feed and use the PlayStation controller at hand to steer the endoscope. One version of this operation saw the surgeons using a PlayStation Move controller for the PS3, while others have been done with the PS5’s DualSense. As for the reason behind using a PlayStation controller, it’s said to give surgeons more “precise navigation”, especially when it comes to complex movements.

Likely the biggest issue with doing surgery in this manner is accounting for latency. Since the surgeons in Switzerland were so far away from where the surgery itself was being done, this test had to keep latency under 300 milliseconds. It’s said that this response time is equal to what would be expected in traditional surgery and would allow for quick adjustments to be made if needed.

Moving forward, it seems like this could become more of a routine thing that is done in the medical field. There are still numerous hurdles to account for with procedures like this and it doesn’t seem like it has reached the point where it would be done on a human patient. Still, in the years to come, it could be far more routine to see a PlayStation, Xbox, or any other video game controller used in a surgical manner like this.