With the recent reveals of PlayStation Productions, Sony’s partnership with Microsoft and the imminent (hopefully) reveal of the PlayStation 5, it seems like Sony’s posed to take over the world.
You can now add ‘Virtual Reality pants’ to Sony’s accolades, because it seems as though the tech giant is planning to tick that off its list of accomplishments.
A new patent [via GamesRadar] has been filed by Sony, who hopes to create a “glove device” for virtual reality.
The “glove envelopes said finger of the user that contacts the user interface device, and the haptic response processing module uses the haptic profile to impart changes to the haptic feedback based on a type of interaction detected,” says the patent.
In fewer words than that, it’s a glove that’ll provide feedback or react when you make contact with a virtual object. It’ll allow you to feel virtual items or weapons that you might pick up, potentially like the weapon in the image above, which is pretty cool.
The patent doesn’t make clear whether the glove would be compatible with PSVR as it stands now, or if it’ll be integrated with the PlayStation 5.
It looks like it’s going to be one heck of a tech piece though, as the patent covers the potential use of compressed gas, liquid, an electric motor, and a heating/cooling element just to name a few.
The hope is to create something that’ll allow you to sense the size and weight of a virtual object for an unparalleled immersive experience.
The glove will also have a “response to being held, a response to being moved, a response to being crushed, a response to being tossed, a response to being dropped, a response to being felt, a response to being rubbed, a response to being squeezed, a response to being pressed.”
GamesRadar notes that the patent, which focuses mostly on the VR glove, does include a very interesting line of text that suggests Sony has more up its sleeve.
The line in question hints that the technology behind the glove could also be used for “an article of clothing capable of being worn by a user such as… a hat, footwear, pants or shirt.”
It’s a very strange thing to say if the plan were to end with just a glove…
How exactly a pair of VR pants would work is an entirely different matter. If they’d share the same technology as the glove, does that mean the pants would react to being touched? Maybe it’s just me, but I can only think of a certain type of game where you’d need to feel the weight of something in your lap…
It’ll be interesting to see just what Sony wants to do with this kind of tech.
Featured Image Credit: Pixabay