Sony files patent for biometric controller, handheld tech

Sony is no doubt currently hard at work on developing their next generation console, and it looks like they’re considering some interesting new controller features for current and possibly upcoming controllers – and even handhelds.

Siliconera managed to dig up a patent filing from Sony that suggests the company is looking into adding biometric data sensors onto controllers and handhelds, which will function similarly to Nintendo’s apparently scrapped “Vitality Sensor”.

According to the patent filing, the sensors will monitor “galvanic skin resistance, electrocardio data, and electro-muscular data”. In more simple terms, the sensor will try to determine your mood based on sweat, heart rate, and your muscle movements.

This would allow for the possibility of the game adjusting difficulty based on how stressed you are, for example. Other examples include the possibility of your character sweating when you start sweating, attacks that are adjusted based on your muscle tension, or even the ability to tense your muscles to block or shield your character from an attack.

Just because Sony filed the patent doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be seeing new hardware or peripherals using this tech anytime soon, if even at all, but the idea is certainly an interesting one. Assuming that it actually works, developers could do some really interesting things with it, provided they don’t get too gimmicky with it. If biometric feedback is used in more subtle ways, it could help serve to bump up immersion to a whole new level.

What do you think? Would you be interested in a controller with a biometric sensor?

Credit: Siliconera