PlayStation VR2

[paul]

"It would be desirable if a user could use an inexpensive, simple and non-electronic device as a video game peripheral," the application reads. "The present disclosure seeks to address or at least alleviate some of the above-identified problems."

As you might have guessed from the headline, Sony's answer to the problem is bananas. Well, not just bananas. What the application describes is a method that works with any "non-luminous passive object being held by a user." It could be a mug, a pen, a glass, or as in the inventors' preferred examples, bananas and oranges.

Add some string and the next God of War has a pretty great Blades of Chaos peripheral

There's also a nice section on a "Two-Object Controller," which instantly translates to us as, "Yes, you can dual-wield bananas."

But this one is a little different. This application for a "Control apparatus and control program" was published in November and contains a detailed description of what might be the new PlayStation VR controller Sony announced to go with the new VR headset last week.

A pair of drawings in the patent show off the controller from the front and back. The most instantly noticeable change is that the giant light-up globe of the original PSVR / PlayStation Move controller is gone, replaced by a small LED panel (labelled 235 in the drawing above) that can emit light in a variety of colors. Naturally, it has a few interesting additions as well.

First and foremost among those additions is a trigger button that, like the PS5 DualSense triggers, can offer resistance when pressed, with a vibration device to provide accompanying haptic feedback. This isn't terribly surprising, given that Sony has already said its new VR controller would incorporate technology from the PS5 pads.

However, this controller also sports a thumb sensor and three different finger sensors, so finger tracking somewhat like the Valve Index may be in play. Sony's patent application suggests that, combined with the haptic feedback, this could be used to let players feel the size and texture of virtual objects as they hold them.

And while the controller specifically detailed in the patent only includes this force feedback on the index finger button, Sony specifies that multiple buttons could be arranged to provide differing levels of feedback for each finger. The described controller also features a flexible loop that goes around the user's hand to secure the controller in place and can be mounted on either side to accommodate use in the left or right hand.

In one example, the company envisions a painting program where players hold a virtual palette in one hand and use their fingers to dab the color of paint they want and draw marks across a canvas. Each finger could be assigned a different color, or be used to erase previous work.

Sony's controller tech is literally bananas | Patent Trawling | GamesIndustry.biz