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Sony filing details motion-sensing controller attachments

Recent patent application with the USPTO details possible add-ons for upcoming PS3 gamepad, including microphone, flashlight, biometric reader, baseball bat.

Sony plans to launch its camera-based motion-sensing controller for the PlayStation 3 in just a few months, but the publisher has yet to delve too deeply into what gamers can expect from it. However, a number of possible functions came to light, courtesy of a Sony Computer Entertainment patent application filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office last week.

Connect controllers can be done in a number of ways.

Connect controllers can be done in a number of ways.

According to the filing and a range of associated schematics, Sony appears to have its sights set on introducing a variety of attachments to flesh out the controller's functionality. Attachments for what appears to be the PS3's new controller run the gamut from the technical to the mundane, with examples in the filing ranging from microphones and flashlights to maracas and crosshairs. The filing also details a way to connect two controllers together.

Sony's patent application also goes into depth on ball attachments that can be illuminated with different colors. Exemplary uses for these colored balls include differentiating between players; providing user feedback, "such as when the player is being 'hit'"; or to let a player know when the controller isn't being recognized by the PS3's camera.

The patent application also details possible uses for a USB slot in the controller. Namely, Sony notes that the built-in USB slot would let gamers transfer certain information to the controller's onboard memory, conferring a range of options from user-profile recognition to downloadable content transfers.

Connecting a baseball bat will apparently be a snap.

Connecting a baseball bat will apparently be a snap.

"For example, one file is a game that is loaded to the base station for playing, another file contains karaoke songs that can be used in a sing-along game, another file contains new player rosters and statistics for an update to a sports game," the patent application reads.

Yet another interesting potential attachment for the PS3 controller is what Sony refers to as a biometric reader. The attachment "includes a thumb reader used to validate the identity of the person holding the controller by analyzing the biometric data provided by the attachment." With said data, the filing notes that the controller could be disabled if picked up by an unauthorized user or activate alternative preset configurations for different players.

Though the objects in the patent have not been officially announced by Sony, there is good reason to believe some--if not all--will make it to market. Previous patent filings by Sony have revealed new technology, including one that surfaced last October that unveiled the motion-sensing tech itself. In August, another application surfaced that indicates Sony is also working on emotion-sensing technology.

333 Comments

  • haydergm

    Posted Dec 30, 2009 8:54 am GMT

    pls go and see the videos on youtube abt it...
    its great and equipped with every thing that make the wii remote like a child toy.... actually its a child toy!!! ((I am not saying that wii remote is bad... its very good))

  • TevoxZi

    Posted Dec 13, 2009 1:25 am GMT

    @MagicOneUp
    Then you don't, but TGS '09 RE5 Alternative Edition -video tells more than a thousand words.

  • Wavwi

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 10:42 pm GMT

    watch . . . microsoft (xbox 360) will copy this idea u just wait, What? u say, sony copied this form xbox, wait a sec, we started (sony) all this with the eye toy, that was the FIRST virtual hardware (and game).

  • MagicOneUp

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 7:03 pm GMT

    @ TevoxZi
    i'm sorry dude, but i don't buy this add-on story. its like sony is trying to milk us buying this add-on on top of an add-on. im sure FPS will always required buttons. EyePet camera thing is slow, unresponsive, nice try sony but not quite there yet...

  • TevoxZi

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 11:09 am GMT

    @goodemon

    It's at least out here in Finland already.

    @MagicOneUp
    Some games require buttons, like FPS. Besides, we have PS Eye too. This itself is an add-on to it.

  • MagicOneUp

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 8:23 pm GMT

    the swiss-knife controller.... we want a motion controller becos we don't want to press that many buttons or stuff like that. its gonna be in the grave yard with the virtual boy in a few months after release. can't wait to get my hands on the NATAL (or hands free)

  • goodemon

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:36 pm GMT

    I'm buying Resident Evil 5: Alternative edition, for my motion sensor. That will be my test as to whether or not this is really worth it. By the way sony, when will you put out eyepet?

  • TripSe7en

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 10:45 am GMT

    Nearly all after launch Add-ons end up being failures due to the consumers non-willing to adopt mentality. Look at the HDD for the 64, Sega CD, HDDVD for the 360, even the Xband for the SNES (Which I may have been one in 1000 who actually owned one). Add-ons are usually products that have been rushed to the market when they should have been more refined and simply added to the next console.

  • TevoxZi

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 9:06 am GMT

    @TripSe7en
    If you ask me, the Sega Genesis Add-ons were failures, but as you said "There have been failures."

    We'll see how this starts off, but I don't think all of the gamers in the next generation'd like to see the normal controllers go off, I think the norm. controllers'll remain the normal ones, at least for now..

  • TripSe7en

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 9:00 am GMT

    @TevoxZi:
    As a gamer since the colecovision, I have confidence in the gaming companies as they have done no wrong in the last 30 years. Sure there have been failures, but that is because the consumer didn't adopt the product or because it wasn't the time for such a product. That is what I love about the gaming industryl they are one of the few industries that is still dictated by the consumer. I personaly am all for whatever way the game companies take us. If they think that motion controllers is the future and they develop a system that works in all scenarios, then count me in. Obviously the most adopted forms of manipulation will be mainstay; such as the contoller, however with the way that tech advances, to think of the controller as we know it being around forever is reverse thinking. It is just a matter of tim before the tech and consumer come to grip with what is in front of them,

  • nini200

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 7:28 am GMT

    But as I stated earlier, at least Sony is copying Nintendo correctly. Natal will flop because you won't be able to play real games using it due to the limited amount of space people have in their rooms. There's no reason to even go into Natal any more. At least with the Sony Wand, there may be a way to move around a vast environment if they find some kind of peripheral to attach to it (Most likely a WiiMote Nunchuck Look-Alike that Sony fans will say Sony came out with first). I've heard that they will connect the controller to it but that won't work. And at least the Sony Wand is full 1:1 just like Nintendo's WiiMote with Motion Plus Attachment.

  • nini200

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 7:28 am GMT

    Still not going to be better than the Wii Motion controls but at least Sony knows who to copy. I laugh everytime I hear some butt hurt die hard Sony fans that FINALLY realize that Sony is copying Nintendo but don't want to admit it, Especially the one's that were saying "Motion Controls are a Gimmick, A fad, a Dying trend" but then Sony Blatantly copies Nintendo and now the same people are saying, "Well Sony did it First with the Eye Toy". I wonder what the Game Boy Camera was then that Sony Copied from Nintendo Again? Oops, was I supposed to mention that? My bad.
    .
    Most "Die Hard" Sony and MS fans don't even know what the Wii has, yet they just bash it because it makes them fit in with the crowd. If you all knew something about the Wii, you'd know that Just like this setup, Most of the Games on the Wii also have Control Choices from Classic Controller, to Gamecube Controller and then Motion Controls. Most people Automatically think that every game on the Wii uses Motion Controls Only and that couldn't be further from the truth. To those people, do some research before you say anything because you don't sound cool for blatantly bashing a system you don't know anything about besides "it doesn't do HD blah blah blah".
    .

  • TevoxZi

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 7:16 am GMT

    @TripSe7en
    We better hope the next generation still has norm. controllers left as the main ones.

    @left4right
    I love you too, but by what do you mean with "abuse reporter" ? I didn't report you, lmao.

  • Bortson

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 7:04 am GMT

    So whatever happened to Six-axis? I thought that was their motion controller deal

    I found an old ad for PS3s when it was launched lauding it.

  • TripSe7en

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 6:21 am GMT

    If Sony was in the business of making and supporting shovelware, this motion system would be awesome. However Sony doesn't do that (yet) and hopefully never will. I see this as a waste of energy and time as Nintendo already has a vice grip on the casual market. I am not judging the PS3mote yet, as I will give it a fair shot, but I am far from sold on spending money on it at this point.

  • Nercis

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 3:29 am GMT

    @ali-009:

    No i dont need thoes games. If i did i whould not sell my ps3, right?
    And i dont care how the controllers look like. That was not the point.
    Ib guess that you are just another ps3 fanboy

  • Petch1984

    Posted Dec 10, 2009 1:30 am GMT

    A Baseball bat? Surely they are just covering all bases.

  • shani_boy101

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 11:51 pm GMT

    that biometric reader thing sounds interesting, that way i can prevent my sis from playing when i'm not around use it for quick logins.

  • Hizang

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 10:43 pm GMT

    The Motion sensing her has alot of potential, more so than Natal as I'm sure most people like somthing pysical to hold. Plus it seems to be more responsive than the PS3. But this won't effect Wii sales as the causal gamers most probbaly dont know this exsists so they won't be bothred

  • zzamaro

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 9:32 pm GMT

    to the guy who said Sony is copying again...

    Sony has had this technology since as early as 2000-2001, when they were experimenting with the technology with the original Eye Toy. Sony (and Microsoft) was not interested in full motion control at the time and eye toy wasn't very successful either but now, Sony and Microsoft see the success the Wii had with the casual gamer and now try to get into the game.

    Want to see something interesting?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpNdkm9s8AY

    The same as the motion controller we saw at this E3 2009, but now this is back with the ps eye.

  • buft

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 9:11 pm GMT

    oh biometric, now we can have games like pretend your at work ,the bio sensor doesnt work and you have to call tech 10 times a day , whoopee!

  • akiwak

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 8:54 pm GMT

    Can't wait to see what this new control can do. I look forward to entertaining my 5 year old with this new toy!

  • valdarez

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 6:07 pm GMT

    @Flint247
    Yeah, it's something I have wanted for well over a decade now. What they should have done is create a game system that can connect to a controller, such that it sits on top of the controller. That way it can be a PSP + be used as part of the PS3, and even better, we wouldn't be limited to the itsy bitsy controllers on the PSP when we took it abroad!

    I typically take mine with me on vacations or when I visit family, and wouldn't have any problem attaching the screen to a controller such that it sat on top of the controller and allowed me to play. I would actually prefer it this way, and would even repurchase my PSP to have the ability to couple it with PS3 gameplay and/or use it with a controller to play PSP games.

    Heck, they could even sell a little controller that snaps over the screen so it's basically like the old PSP. The best of all worlds then.

    Innovate, don't simply copy & attempt to make better. Vision Is Everything!

  • umbrae

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 6:04 pm GMT

    Prepare to spend lots of money...

  • BrunoBRS

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:54 pm GMT

    is it only me or the first pic looks an awful lot like the nunchuck? if you're going to copy motion sensor controllers, at least come up with a design of your own...

  • xtremeflem2day

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:53 pm GMT

    LMAO! Wii? next gen? Nintendos games havent changed at all in the past 10 years, and their online play is tacked on, and whats the most tacked on on the wii, and the most fake, is their motion sensing tech. Games like zelda would be no different without it. Apart from some of the first party games, the wii is just pretty much an overpriced hunk of plastic that gathers up dust for me.

  • Flint247

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:44 pm GMT

    @valdarez

    I actually agree with that LCD on Controller idea. It would be similar to DS gameplay, where one screen has the primary action and the other serves as a map or radar or something.

  • FoxMcCloudDS

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:34 pm GMT

    Eh, why? whats the point? Sony, just make me a twisted metal and another socom

  • DanOwns1207

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:24 pm GMT

    @dumfanboys15
    The Wii is an alright last-gen system. Sorry.

  • Karratti

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:19 pm GMT

    All of this new technology is well and good, but I'm still waiting for a valid reason for these motion-sensing controllers to exist. Sure, the gimmick is fun for a while, but while I've put in hours upon hours of game time in on my DualShocks, the Wii-Mote loses its charm within the first twenty minutes or so.

    Show me a reason why I need this, Sony, and then maybe I'll pick it up.

  • shani_boy101

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:05 pm GMT

    customization sounds neat, can't wait to pick this up!

  • Jhoalot

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 5:00 pm GMT

    A tactical shooter with this controller would be amazing you can point a point in the screen to where a partner needs to move and using it as a gun...like the wii zapper

  • Dan881

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 4:40 pm GMT

    Well come next year this controller is a no buy for me at least, Id rather buy a couple of good games like GT5 and GOW 3 then buy this. Its a nice idea but it doesn't seem like its going to win over casual fans in fact only the wii can accomplish that since other consoles are for the hardcore and well blueray?(well i really haven't used it except for games)

  • valdarez

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 4:25 pm GMT

    Next controller, or controller ad-on, should be a LCD screen that turns it into a virtual tablet/screen so we have a dual screen mode. How cool would it be to have a map on your controller, so it didn't take up screen space, or a tri-corder (for the Trekky fans), or other screens that are related to the game such that you could go through them while still in the game (say your inventory). Depending on the size of the screen (and where it's located), you could even add a couple of extra buttons on the left/right so you could navigate the screen with your left/right index fingers.

    Instead of copying and trying to make something better, they need to really innovate, and motion sensing has been done. Sure, how to do it better is obvious, but the real next question now should be -- what's next?

  • Dumfanboys15

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:53 pm GMT

    @givememytriforc
    Hey the wii does not have N64 graphics. Do your research before you type something that is false. The wii is a great next gen console.

  • Itsthetruth

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:51 pm GMT

    so, motion controls, a biometric reader... where have I seen that before?

    It's the same feeling I had with the sixaxis, remember where Sony got that ideia?

  • givememytriforc

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:45 pm GMT

    Some $5-10 PSN games that use the new controller would be great however the use of the NEW controller in a game like GOW would be a HUGE mistake. Sony could put out their own version of WII sports only this time around the characters would have arms and legs and the graphics would look like something from this decade rather than N64 graphics. This new controller will likely be used in combination with the PS EYE and will probably put out similar software that you will see on both the WII and MS's NaTal. Lets just hope that the motion control is just an additional aspect to the PS3 and not used to replace the dual shock controller.

  • SonOfSparda018

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:41 pm GMT

    Those who're afraid of these advancements in technology won't enjoy a long life in gaming

  • Ravenlore_basic

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:39 pm GMT

    This is all well and good but Sony should add a TOF camera so it can use IR in additon to camera for head tracking all at once... I can only hope that they will adapt it for PS4 in 2012 - 2014 whenever it launches. If your gonna do some thing go big, or go home. Still I think things will work out for this gen with the Mothion controler, and 3D gaming. Sony has enough first party studios to make games that use the device. For top of the notch Hard core games. They can also work with second party developers to make some Casual games.

  • Ernheim

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:38 pm GMT

    It looks like they've put time into making something that will work, which is more than can be said for wiimotes, but will they be able to make worthwhile games for it?

  • shii666

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:37 pm GMT

    And so the control peripheral wars begin...

  • VengfulOne

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:36 pm GMT

    No thanks. My controller works just fine as is. Unless there is a knife attachment!

  • aliasghar96 posted Dec 9, 2009 3:35 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    aliasghar96

    Posted Dec 9, 2009 3:35 pm GMT (hide)

    i hope these new controllers don't turn out to be like wii and make the ps3 suck

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