This new open-source tool turns an Android phone into a PC light gun

Light gun games have always been awkward on modern displays. Old hardware expected CRT televisions, while newer solutions often rely on sensor bars, cameras or extra equipment around the screen. Point-bang takes a different route. It uses an Android phone. The open-source software turns a compatible smartphone into a PC pointing device by combining the phone’s camera, motion sensors and Google’s ARCore tracking system. Instead of simply moving the mouse left or right like a traditional motion controller, it works out where you’re actually pointing on the screen and places the cursor there. That makes it particularly interesting for games such as Time Crisis and other arcade shooters built around aiming directly at targets.

The phone tracks where you’re pointing

Basic gyro aiming works well enough for small movements, but it has an annoying problem. Drift. Move a gyro-controlled device around for long enough and small tracking errors start to add up. Eventually, the on-screen pointer no longer lines up properly with where you’re aiming. You then have to recentre it.

Point-bang tries to avoid that by using ARCore’s six-degrees-of-freedom tracking. The phone doesn’t just measure rotation. It also uses its camera to understand its position and movement in the room. The software combines that visual information with data from the phone’s motion sensors. It then creates a virtual line extending from the handset towards the monitor.

Where that line meets the screen becomes the mouse position. It’s a simple idea from the player’s point of view, even if there’s quite a bit happening behind the scenes. Aim at the left side of the monitor and the cursor goes left. Point towards the top-right corner and it moves there instead. No sensor bar is needed.

Setup starts with a QR code

Getting started doesn’t require installing a separate Android app. You launch point-bang on the PC first. The program displays a QR code, which you scan with the phone. The mobile interface then opens in Chrome and connects to the computer over the local network. After that comes calibration.

You point the phone at three positions on the monitor so the software can work out exactly where the display sits in relation to the phone. Once it knows the screen’s position and angle, it can translate your physical aim into an accurate cursor location. For most setups, that’s the key step.

Point-bang can send tracking data wirelessly using WebRTC, so you don’t need to keep the phone physically connected to the PC. USB is also supported, which can help reduce connection jitter and has the obvious advantage of keeping the phone charged while you’re playing.

Tracking latency on the phone side is listed at roughly 15 to 30 milliseconds. The desktop software updates the cursor every 2 ms using the newest available aiming information. It doesn’t try to guess where you’re going to point next.

The screen can double as a controller

A phone obviously doesn’t have a light gun trigger, so point-bang gives you several ways to handle buttons. The mobile interface can display up to 20 configurable controls. You can map them to keyboard keys or mouse buttons, which means the phone can handle more than just aiming.

That opens up useful options for arcade games. You could assign one button as the trigger, another for start, and others for game-specific actions. Haptic feedback is supported too, giving touchscreen presses a little physical response.

Point-bang can also recognise when you’re aiming outside the calibrated screen area. That matters for games where shooting away from the display is used to reload or take cover. Don’t want to tap the screen while aiming? You don’t have to. Bluetooth gamepads and compatible clicker-style controllers can provide physical buttons instead, making the setup feel closer to holding a dedicated controller.

Multi-monitor setups are supported too

The software isn’t limited to a single display. Point-bang can calibrate multiple monitors separately, allowing it to understand that each screen occupies a different position in physical space. That’s useful if you’ve got a wider desktop setup and want aiming to work across more than one panel.

There’s also a pause option for moments when you need to stop motion tracking and return to normal mouse control. Platform support is fairly broad. The desktop software is available for Windows and Linux, along with versions for Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. On macOS, you’ll need to grant the necessary permissions before the program can control the mouse pointer.

Emulator support is still developing

DuckStation is currently the main emulator covered by the project’s tested configurations, including setups for Time Crisis. Support elsewhere is less settled. MAME and RetroArch testing is still being worked on, while using multiple smartphones at the same time as separate light guns remains planned rather than fully supported.

Unusual display setups may need some experimentation too. Projectors, ultrawide monitors and other non-standard arrangements haven’t been tested as extensively as conventional screens. Still, the basic idea is clear.

If you’ve already got an ARCore-compatible Android phone, point-bang gives you a way to turn hardware you own into an absolute pointing controller for a PC. There’s no external camera to position, no sensor bar to mount and no permanent markers around the monitor. For light gun games on modern hardware, that’s what makes it interesting.

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