Two new Xbox patents have surfaced, possibly revealing two unannounced Xbox Scarlett features. The patents in question were both filed back in 2018, but weren't published until October 3, and they both feature some pretty crazy tech. The first patent is for a virtual reality mat. Yes, that's right: a mat, not a headset. According to the patent, the mat is packed full of sensors, and allows multiple players to experience VR at the same time. What it does beyond this is a bit unclear, but it seems to provide improved tracking, and if games are made with it in mind then they can predict with greater accuracy the tracking parameters.

The other patent is a stylus. Yes, a stylus. Well, technically it's for a "six degree of freedom input device," but a stylus is pictured with it. Basically, it's another tracking device, and allows players holding the stylus to manipulate objects on the screen by simply rotating their hand. You can check out images for both patents, below:

Patent: Xbox VR Mat https://t.co/D0RxxP53Km pic.twitter.com/n3yOAhciKb

— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) 4 October 2019

Patent: Xbox Stylus https://t.co/WMM9xtpaab pic.twitter.com/9q7iE1IB6n

— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) 4 October 2019

Now, as you may know, companies, especially hardware makers, are constantly filing patents, many of which depict and describe products that never make it to the consumer market. Like Nintendo and PlayStation, Microsoft dumps a massive amount of money into research and development. Obviously, Microsoft is messing around with both virtual reality and tracking devices, but who knows whether either of these will come to the market in any capacity, let alone as a feature or component of the Xbox Scarlett.

Of the two, it's more likely the Xbox Scarlett will dabble or support VR, but a whole VR mat seems unlikely given how niche the gaming VR market still is. Meanwhile, the "six degree of freedom input device" seems interesting, but I don't see it coming to the consumer market anytime soon. Maybe if this was a Nintendo filing, but I can't imagine how this would fit into the pitch of the Xbox Scarlett.



Posted: Oct 07, 2019 1:50 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/10/05/xbox-scarlett-features-unannounced/