The Quadstick is a mouth operated joystick which can emulate a Gamepad, Mouse or Keyboard. It connects via USB to a Game Console, PC, Mac, or Android device. It also contains a Bluetooth module that can be used with a PC or Android device. The Quadstick Manager Program (QMP) is a Windows desktop application that is used for setting up and modifying the preference settings that control the Quadstick and for connecting the Quadstick to other inputs devices, such as voice commands and external devices. It is available for download from the Quadstick.com website.
The Quadstick’s configuration scheme is built around three concepts: Inputs, Outputs, & Connections. Google Docs Spreadsheets are used to organize the connections between Inputs and Outputs that control the mapping between a sip/puff or joystick input and an output that emulates a game controller button, joystick, PC keyboard key, or mouse.
Inputs
The mouthpiece has three sip/puff sensors and a lip position sensor attached to the joystick gimbals. On the right side of the joystick mouthpiece is a fourth sip/puff sensor tube that is usually used to control the overall operation of the Quadstick. The back of the device has connections for the lip position sensor, and external inputs.
The joystick position, sip/puff/lip sensors and optional external switches are used to generate Input signals to the Quadstick which are then used to transmit Output commands to the Host device (game console, PC, etc) over the USB or Bluetooth connection. The sip/puff pressure sensors, joystick and lip position sensors are all analog sensors.
In addition to its own hardware inputs, the Quadstick can be used with other devices, such as a PC’s mouse, an UltraStik 360, or a Tobii Eyegaze device.
Outputs
The Quadstick emulates Gamepad, Mouse and Keyboard devices, and each button, key, joystick or movement these devices can send to a game console or PC become Outputs controlled by the Input sensors.
Spreadsheets
Google Docs spreadsheets are used for creating the configuration files that are downloaded into the Quadstick. Inputs, Outputs and Connections are organized as rows in a configuration spreadsheet. A collection of connections made up of all the rows in a single sheet is called a “mode”. A spreadsheet can have up to sixteen “mode sheets”. The user normally selects the active mode sheet by short sip/puffs on the side tube. The Default Configuration spreadsheet has the first mode sheet set to control the Left Analog Stick of the game controller interface. The third mode sheet is set to control the Right Analog Stick and the second controls a mix of the two sticks. Other modes control the D-Pad or Mouse pointer.
The information in the spreadsheet is converted by a menu command to a CSV file that is transferred to the Quadstick’s flash memory by the Quadstick Manager Program or manually using a PC's file manager. The Quadstick can contain many configuration files and the user can control which one is currently active by use of a long hard sip on the side tube.
A Connection binds the signal from an input sensor to an output. The connection can be “normal”, where the Output is activated directly by the current state of the Input, or it can one of several functions like “toggle”, “repeat”, “pulse”, “delay” or in some other way modify the signal between the Input and the Output.
Examples of the four “face buttons” for the PlayStation and XBox consoles:
