Sony has filed a patent application for a future DualSense controller. The PlayStation controller would be equipped with haptic technology allowing it to change shape and/or temperature. This is just an experiment on Sony’s part, there is no guarantee that this feature will ever come out.
The news in brief:
- Sony has filed a patent application to integrate a plastic element into a controller that can change shape and temperature.
- We imagine that this might increase immersion and give new ways to play.
- This is only a Sony project, nothing says that this technology will be available one day.
While gamers wonder regarding the potential existence of a PS5 Pro, Sony continues its research and development. The website Extrude spotted a patent filed by Sony to the World Intellectual Property Organization. He plans to install haptic technology in the DualSense (or the DualSense Edge which also exists) to add functions to the PlayStation 5 controller.
A controller that heats up (or cools down)
The difference with the classic DualSense is that this imagined gamepad has a ” elastic element» more flexible than the rest (especially the grip). An element whose shape might change just by tapping on it. Below, a sensor can detect this deformation and transmit an electrical signal.
This sensor would go even further: my city notes that “the patent also illustrates a sensor that would measure details such as touching, twisting, pressing with a finger, pinching, crushing or rubbing the elastic piece.This component of the controller might also change in temperature or hardness. Sony’s objective is clearly stated:provide a controller capable of enriching haptic experiences. »
What it might change in games
On the other hand, the patent is silent on the uses of this mysterious element. We can obviously imagine that this comes to reinforce the immersion in video games. For example, on the change in temperature: one can imagine that in a cold environment, the controller “cool down” and vice versa. The gameplay might also be changed: to trigger an action, you would have to more or less squeeze the controller in your hands. What to change compared to the press of a button or the inclination of ajoystickways of playing that we have known for decades (and generally since the democratization of video games).
However, this is only a project led by Sony: nothing says that such a video game controller will come out one day. If the technical challenge is perhaps successful, there are two others to be met: the use of this technology by the studios and their interest, but also that of the players.
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