PS5 VR controller patent suggests Sony is developing next-gen finger tracking tech

(Image credit: USTPO/Sony)

Another newly discovered Sony patent has potentially revealed the existence of a next-gen PS VR controller for the upcoming PS5.

Originally unearthed by 91Mobiles, the patent was filed by Sony under the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2018, but has only now been made available for public viewing, and provides both a detailed description and images of the product.

PS5 specs – what's inside the next-generation PlayStation console?

The "Controller Device" describes an input system for a "home-use game machine” that “detects movement of a user’s hand” alongside a “a plurality of sensor units that detect the fingers of the user.”

This doesn't sound too dissimilar from the kind of virtual reality accessories used by PC VR headsets like the Valve Index, in which users have more accurate control of each finger operated in the game space via a number of pressure sensitive triggers.

Like all Sony patents, however, this document should not be taken as guaranteed proof that PlayStation is working on such a device for PS5, or even at all, as it may well have scrapped the project altogether.

This is hardly the first PS VR patent we've seen in recent months, either, with a rumour last week suggesting that Sony is indeed working on a next-gen successor to the PS4's virtual reality headset.

With rumours of a PS5 February reveal meeting swirling, it's all too possible that we'll have more official news about the future of PS VR in the coming weeks.

For more, check out more upcoming PS4 games for 2020 and beyond, or watch our latest episode of Dialogue Options below.

Alex is a former Features Writer at GamesRadar, which once made him responsible for gracing the internet with as many of my words as possible, including reviews, previews, interviews, and more. Lucky internet!