Weeks after announcing the PlayStation 5 will receive its own updated VR headset, Sony has now given a first look at the controllers it will utilize.
On the PlayStation Blog, Senior Vice President of Platform Planning & Management Hideaki Nishino revealed the controllers, which he had teased last month. “Our new VR controller speaks to our mission of achieving a much deeper sense of presence and stronger feeling of immersion in VR experiences,” he wrote.
“It will build upon the innovation we introduced with the DualSense wireless controller, which changed how games ‘feel’ on PS5 by unlocking a new way to tap into the sense of touch. Now we’re bringing that innovation to VR gaming.”
Nishino describes Sony’s new controller as having “an ‘orb’ shape.” The player’s hand fits inside the orb to grasp the keypad within, instead of grasping a cylindrical Move controller. It has been designed for ergonomics and to avoid constraining players’ hand movements, aiming for a “natural” grip. Early play testing suggests the controllers feel balanced across a wide array of hand sizes.
The left and right pads split the standard face buttons, with circle and cross on the right, square and triangle on the left. Each will have a analog stick, grip buttons (L1/R1), and trigger buttons (L2/R2). The grip buttons may be used to “grip” in-game items, while the triggers will feature Adaptive Trigger technology like the DualSense. Haptic feedback will be incorporated as well, giving gameplay a new dimension of tangible texture.
Sony’s new controllers will be tracked through the next-gen headset through a tracking ring that runs across the bottom. They can also detect finger positioning “without any pressing in the areas where you place your thumb, index, or middle fingers,” which will allow for more natural hand gestures in-game.
Nishino promised that developers will receive prototypes soon, so they can begin concocting new and novel applications. “[Sony Interactive Entertainment]’s Product, Engineering, and Design teams have collaborated to build our new VR controller from the ground up with a goal of making a huge leap from current-gen VR gaming,” Nishino wrote. “We’re thrilled with the controller we developed, but what matters now is how game creators will take advantage of the features to design the next generation of VR experiences.”
