Sony's upcoming DualSense might be a little more advanced than players may be comfortable with. A patent filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment back in February was recently published, and it details that the PlayStation 5 controller will be able to tell whenever someone picks it up. More specifically, it'll be able to tell who picks it up.
As one would expect, the patent details this potential DualSense controller feature with a bunch of technical jargon. Said jargon basically boils down to this: The DualSense will have one or more sensors throughout it. Whenever someone picks the controller up, these sensors will transmit telemetry data to the PlayStation 5, allowing it to identify the person holding the controller.
Somewhat ironically, the idea behind this PlayStation 5 patent was born from Sony's goal to add additional security and privacy measures to the next-generation console. The patent describes Sony's knowledge of how PlayStation users tend to sign into their own accounts whenever they use another PlayStation, as doing so allows them to use their own game saves and account-specific content.
However, getting into the account may require that the player input their private password in front of other potential persons in the room. If not that, the user may forget to log out of the foreign PlayStation when they leave, unwillingly allowing the owner of the console, or other individuals, to access the account's information.
The mentioned DualSense controller patent would be the solution to this. When a player picks the controller up, it will just log them into their own account. They won't need to put their passwords in. If the user leaves and someone else picks up the controller, the PlayStation will log them out of the other users' accounts and into theirs.
While this feature is undoubtedly impressive, it raises some privacy concerns with just the information presented. It might worry some that the PlayStation 5 and, by proxy, Sony, can track them through any random DualSense controller. There feature could also become an inconvenience to those who want to play on the original owner's account.
Still, at the end of the day, this is just a patent. They get filed all the time, and not all of them actually make the cut in the end. So the DualSense ending up with this feature when it arrives with the PlayStation 5's isn't a guarantee, and if it does have it, it could have other measures in place that would make users more comfortable with it.
PS5 arrives Holiday 2020.