Sony sticks its foot into VR — patent reveals trackball foot controller that boosts immersion for players in smaller rooms

Sony has submitted patents that current plans for two styles of foot-operated controllers for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) video video games and totally different immersive features. Numerous drawings inside the patent current these movement-reading peripherals – one using a ball (or two), and the second using a touch-sensitive ground, every are designed to be operated by the particular person’s ft.

The one or two ball-operated devices look like meant for simple movement. Within the meantime, the touch-sensitive pads with proximity-sensing capabilities can current additional superior controls. Consistent with the patent, every styles of controllers may need a built-in CPU, and memory, to calculate and translate enter movement to the particular person’s recreation or utility.

Accompanying the pictures above, Sony describes a controller with each one or two balls huge ample to be used by the particular person’s foot. This works equally to an old-school PC trackball, moreover Sony’s devices are managed by the particular person’s ft. These controllers can have three or additional bearings contained within the ball housing which allows for smoother rotation. The processing unit inside the machine takes good thing about 1 or two encoders for each of the two balls, which calculates its rotational movement which is then used inside the recreation.

The patent provide moreover incorporates a description and footage of a semi-circular bowl-type foot controller design that incorporates a flat touchpad which might embody a curved touch-sensitive ground sufficiently huge to be operated with every ft. It’ll each be a capacitive or a resistive touch-sensitive ground.