The Sony PlayStation 5 controller may have a touchscreen in place of existing the touchpad, according to a newly-published patent filing.
Judging by the patent application continuation filed in 2017, the successor to the DualShock 4 could show gamers prevalent information directly on the controller itself.
The current touchpad is useful as a navigation tool, while it also enables users to access and browse in-game menus and stats. However, most developers haven’t made much use of the feature beyond the mundane.
What Sony would hope to achieve by replacing this with a touchscreen remains to be seen. Perhaps it should show smaller representations of in-game maps and the ability to quickly select weapons, but given gamers don’t spend too much time looking at the pad while playing, it could be counter-intuitive.
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As TechCrunch points out, any touchscreen could be used for dealing with incoming notifications, such as messages and friend requests, but could also be used to commence a live stream of a game, for example.
Image credit: Sony
However, just because Sony has filed a patent application it doesn’t mean the company plans to act on it in time for the PS5, or at all. Tech companies often patent their ideas to protect the innovation, even if they decide it isn’t fit for the market.
The patent itself doesn’t go into much detail either. Sony simply calls it “a touchscreen defined along the top surface of the main body between the first extension and the second extension; a first set of buttons disposed on the top surface of the main body proximate to the first extension and on a first side of the touchscreen; and a second set of buttons disposed on the top surface of the main body proximate to the second extension and on a second side of the touchscreen.”
The only example of a mainstream gaming firm going down this route is the massive Wii U Gamepad, but the less said about that the better. At least the Nintendo Switch derived from that mess somehow.
Would you like to see Sony add a touchscreen to the PlayStation 5 controller? What other innovations would make the DualShock better? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
