Sony’s haptic feedback technology in the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller is one of the major selling points of the console. Although the haptic technology in the DualSense has been lauded as one of the major generational upgrades, the feature is dependent on developers updating their games to support it. Sony’s new patent looks to be a way to work around that issue.
The new patent was filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment and granted on March 16 of this year. The patent is called “Haptics Metadata In A Spectating Stream” and describes a way for haptic information to be generated and sent to the player’s DualSense controller without the need for developers to manually update the game. The procedurally generated haptic data would enable advanced DualSense haptics on PS4 games that have not been updated for PS5 as well as other games like indies which receive less support than AAA titles.
It’s not clear when this could be coming to the PS5 or if it even will. Companies often patent technologies without having a concrete plan to use them in the near future. However, with the specificity of this patent and how much of a selling point the DualSense’s haptic feedback is for the PlayStation 5, it would be a great idea for Sony to implement it.
Interestingly, the drawings for the patent also include a VR headset. The drawing describes haptics being sent along with audio and video streams to the user’s devices. It could be that Sony intends to use this haptic technology to improve the quality of the VR experience in the upcoming PS VR 2 headset. Not much is known about Sony’s PS VR 2 headset yet but the company has promised to reveal more information as development progresses. Current estimates predict it could be out in 2022.
