There has been plenty of hype recently around Sony's announcement of the next-generation PlayStation VR. While we know little about the system, aside from several cursory mentions of its features, we know it will have a new controller.
Could a Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) patent application hold some clues?
Sony Files Patent Application for Handheld Controllers
Following the news of Sony's forthcoming PSVR headset and controller, we trawled through some recent patents to see if we could find any clues.
We found a patent application of particular interest, which is titled WO2020031271 - CONTROLLER DEVICE. The patent application, along with all drawings and related documents, is available via the patent's Patentscope page on the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) site.
The patent is mainly in Japanese, but we can still see that it is an SIE patent and what it is for. We can also see that the application is still in progress, meaning the WIPO hasn't yet granted the patent.
What Does the Possible PSVR2 Controller Look Like?
While we aren't sure if this is definitely an application for a PSVR2 controller, it wouldn't be unreasonable to speculate that it is. Sony has filed a patent for a "controller device" here, don't forget.
As you can see from the drawings, there is clearly a handheld element that Sony intends the user to grip with their fist, held in place with a strap. According to the text in the patent, it also has means to detect the user's finger movements, using an array at the front, and their wrist movements.
The patent states:
The controller device in a home-use game machine or the like detects the movement of the user's hand and sends information indicating the detected user's movement to the main body of the game machine or the like. Further, in recent years, as one of such controller devices, a device that detects the movement of each finger of the user (bending and stretching of each finger) by a plurality of sensors arranged on the surface of the controller device while being worn on the user's hand.
It looks not wholly dissimilar to the Valve Index controller, which Valve released in 2019 alongside the rest of its well-received VR ecosystem.
We Won't Be Seeing the Controller for Some Time
While this might look like a patent for the new PSVR controller, we have no guarantee that this is what we'll get when the product finally comes out.
Don't forget, Sony has stated it won't be out for some time yet, so we'll have to wait and see if this makes it to manufacturing stage. It could change a lot before then.
In the meantime, there are plenty of other virtual reality systems out there to try. That way, when PSVR2 arrives, you'll know whether it is worth your investment.