With the advent of Virtual Reality consoles upon us, now is as good a time as any for accessories which can be used in tandem with the technological leap. Electronics giant Sony has recently filed for a trio of patents and they look to be taking VR to an interesting new place.
The trio of patents are for a new glove-based controller system which centers around a finger-tracking flex sensor, a separate contact sensor that registers when the user touches a physical object, and a communications module that sends this data to a VR headset where it is incorporated into the simulated experience.
The patent filing describes the system as “a trackable object that is configured to be illuminated during interactivity with at least one inertial sensor for generating inertial sensor data”. Reminiscent of the Move Motion “wand” revealed in 2009 and released for the PS3, the glove appears to be more dexterous and its collaborative capabilities have the potential to make gesture actions or motions applicable far beyond the world of gaming.
An important note to make in the nature of patents is there is no guarantee a product of this nature will ever see the light of day. Between cost, time, and how well it would actually work, Sony may choose to simply hold the patent and work on other projects but it does suggest they are at least considering wearable computing in the future.
