Sony Seems To Be Working On Its Very Own Gaming Gloves

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Sony might be working on its own Power Glove-style gaming peripheral, at least according to a newly-filed patent. Sony has filed many such patients over the past couple of years for a wide variety of possible PlayStation 5 features. These include more intuitive parental controls that would help block younger players from accessing age-inappropriate content and even a new Smell-O-Vision type system that could allow players to experience in-game odors.

This last patient is an extension of Sony’s efforts to increase player immersion in the eighth console generation, as demonstrated by the DualSense controller’s Haptic feedback vibrations and the PS5’s support for full 3D audio using its proprietary Pulse headset. Sony has also looked into alternative control schemes for players who might not be able to fully utilize a traditional controller, such as the upcoming Access Controller that features several different accessibility options like customizable buttons that can be mapped to multiple in-game commands.

The PlayStation Access controller might not be the only new control scheme Sony has in the works, as a recent patient filed by Sony Group Corporation suggests that the company is developing a gaming glove controller. According to this patent, the gloves would be able to detect the positions of the player's fingers and move them in-game using sensors built into the thumbs and fingers – but there are some detection issues to be worked out for when the player’s fingers are obscured. A solution to this is listed in the form of multiple sensors that can pick up the slack for the one that is covered up.

Sony’s latest patient will likely bring to mind Nintendo’s Power Glove, a controller accessory released for the original Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. It was meant to revolutionize gaming by allowing players to control games with motion, something that Nintendo later implemented to better success with the Wii. However, the Power Glove failed to properly translate a player's movements properly, and the peripheral is now better known for its appearance in The Wizard than its actual time on the market.

This hasn't stopped other companies from trying to make their own Power Glove-like peripherals over the years, and it appears that Sony is working on a PlayStation-branded answer to it in the form of these currently unnamed gaming gloves. Only time will tell if this newly-patented project will ultimately see the light of day, and the patent itself even acknowledges some potential technical issues with the sensors sometimes not detecting a player’s fingers properly. Still, Sony’s newest patent looks like it could be an interesting way to add additional immersion to its AR and VR projects should it manage to overcome the Power Glove’s shortcomings.