Sony Files Patent Application For Temperature-Changing PS5 Controller

A new patent application suggests that Sony is looking to implement temperature feedback into its PlayStation controllers.

First spotted by Exputer, Sony filed a patent application for a material that can simulate temperature feedback to its PlayStation controllers in order to reflect what is going on during gameplay. The filing notes that typical gaming controllers usually use plastic materials that are hard to bend or deform.

The purpose of the technology is to bring that issue to light and create a way to provide a more enriching haptic experience. The filing reads, "An aspect of the present invention to solve the above problem of the conventional example is a controller that includes a sensor using an elastically deformable elastic member, and this sensor detects user's contact with or deforming action of the elastic member and outputs an electric signal based on the detected contact or deforming action in question."

As for the temperature aspect, one example included in the filing is mixing a sealed gas bubble in advance into the elastic member. The circuit section in the controller would then have a temperature control apparatus like a Peltier element. This would in term control the gas volume in the bubble, and change the shape of the elastic member.

Sony has been looking for ways to innovate in its controllers, with PS5's DualSense being a step toward more direct haptic feedback in games. Sony also recently released the DualSense Edge controller. In GameSpot's DualSense Edge controller review, we said, "a very well-made, satisfyingly weightier controller that provides many of the bells and whistles that I want from a high-end controller. And, barring any major issues, it should be a controller you can use for many years to come--perhaps even the lifecycle of the PlayStation 5."