Following the revelation that the missing submersible that vanished while diving to the wreck of the Titanic is piloted by a game controller, a former subcontractor has defended its usage.
The vessel, which went missing on Sunday (June 18), has dimensions of 263 inches x 110 inches x 98 inches, just about large enough for the five people on board, as previously reported.
The sub, known as Titan, also features a toilet, heated walls to combat the freezing temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean, and a music system.
Following resurfaced footage of the vessel, people across the world became alarmed that it was piloted using an old Logitech gaming controller.
During the footage, the CEO of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, explained that the vessel only has "one button" and held up the controller that operates it.
"We run the sub with this game controller," Rush said, before holding up a modified Logitech F710 gaming controller.
"It's basically a Sony PlayStation-style controller," he continued. "If you want to go forward, you press forward. If you want to go back, you press back."
Following the backlash across social media about the piloting method, Doug Virnig, a former subcontractor for OceanGate spoke to CNN about why the company opted for this feature.
"It seems kind of cheesy, but if you knew the amount of technology that was packed in that controller and its capabilities, and the amount of money that it costs to develop something like that, it's just off the charts," Virnig began.
He expressed that the controller was put in by design, as OceanGate looked to cut down on research and development as well as lowering costs.
Virnig continued: "So if you can take these components off the shelf and incorporate them into a project like this, where you don't have the research and development timelines and expense, that I believe is a wise choice."
He added that OceanGate's aim was not tourism, but to research the ocean which aided the company in securing funds to build the vessel.
"[OceanGate has] gone cutting edge where they needed to," Virnig went on while adding that they also "incorporated a good bit of conventional wisdom".
At the time of writing, Titan has not yet been found but Virnig is confident that it will eventually be located, even if that means in the distant future.
"It has a titanium dome door and that’s not going anywhere," he said. "That thing is indestructible … It’s a huge hunk of metal, so there are ways to detect that and they’ll find it."
Tragically, according to the predictions of the US Coast Guard, the oxygen levels on the Titan ran out 96 hours after it began its descent to the wreckage of the Titanic.