Someone has figured out how to turn an old treadmill into a PS4 controller

Thursday, 6th February 2020, 4:32 pm
Updated Thursday, 6th February 2020, 4:32 pm

Los Angeles based YouTuber, Allen Pan, found a broken old treadmill and began forming a plan to get back into shape.

Obsessed with the PS4 game, Death Stranding - where characters explore a vast open-world map - Pan used his electrical engineering know-how to convert the broken running machine into a real-time controller.

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How does it work?

Pan's YouTube channel, Sufficiently Advanced, has over 900,000 followers. He shares videos where he uses science to "make pretend things into real things". His videos range from mad experiments - such as stuffing a turkey with molten iron - to showing off wild inventions, like a working lightsaber.

The YouTuber invented his treadmill controller after realising that most people give up their New Year's resolutions three weeks into January, with more than half abandoning their new healthy lives completely just six months into the year.

After realising he had played a video game for over 50 hours, Pan decided to use that time to move - thus creating a treadmill controller.

The treadmill doesn't work, so the user moves the belt by walking and dragging it underfoot. This triggers a sensor commonly found in PS4 controllers. After a bit of science and engineering, the whole thing is now an exercise machine that controls the YouTuber's favourite video game.

Sadly Pan isn't building these for sale - but the idea could be revolutionary for the gaming world.