Bombs away: Hacked controllers make Angry Birds tangible

To do this, Copenhagen-based designers Hideaki Matsui and Andrew Spitz built a desktop slingshot controller using a hacked motorised fader taken from an audio mixing console.

The controller mimics the tension and release felt when using a real slingshot. A second controller, shaped like a TNT detonator, can also be used to trigger exploding birds. Both controllers have a hand-made, craft aesthetic not normally associated with computer game controllers.

‘So much from our world has shifted from the physical to the digital,’ Andrew Spitz tells LS:N Global. ‘Even though digital experiences are usually more efficient, certain experiences are more suited to being tangible.’ See our Digi-Tactile microtrend to learn how other brands are making digital experiences tangible.