Sony has shared new details on their disability controller, starting with its official name: The Access Controller.
Formerly known as Project Leonardo, the Access Controller will retain all the features that Sony had previously outlined when they first revealed the product to the public.
Sony is still not ready to share pricing or release information for the Access Controller, but in the meantime, we do have a lot more details on some of the controller’s new and revised features, as shared on the PlayStation Blog.
For one, Sony has determined that this will come with each Access Controller package:
- Analog stick caps (standard, dome and ball stick cap)
- Button caps in different shapes and sizes, including:
- Pillow button caps
- Flat button caps
- Wide flat button cap (which covers two button sockets)
- Overhang button caps (which benefit players with smaller hands as they are positioned closer to the center)
- Curve button caps (which can be pushed if placed along the top or pulled if placed along the bottom of the controller)
- Swappable button cap tags for players to easily mark which inputs they map to each button
Among the notable new features added to the controller is AMPS mount support. To keep it simple, AMPS is a standardized mounting screw pattern, where holes are arranged in a square measuring 30 mm x 38 mm. In plain English, it will be easy to mount this controller on a table, mounting arm, or whatever configuration is preferred, to best suit particular needs.
Of course, this is a huge improvement on Xbox Adaptive Controller. It is in a way, Sony engineers indicating they were justified in spinning off to their own accessibility project, as opposed to building an industry standard with competitors. Having said that, given how fresh this product category is, it isn’t quite clear if this is really better for the end users, or if they would have been better served with industry standardization.
Sony’s Access controller also allows users to change the orientation of the joystick relative to the user, and to extend the joystick to distance it from the buttons.
Also previewed was the Access controller UI, which allows a range of customizations, including but not limited to button mapping, controller pair, and adjusting analog stick deadzones. There is also a toggle mode, which allows you to press a button once and have the PS5 treat it like the button is being held, similar to a Caps Lock.
Keep reading GameRanx for more updates on Sony’s Access Controller.
