Virtual reality has seen a massive boom in the gaming industry in recent years, with many developers looking to capitalize on the immersive experiences capable through VR. Hardware like the Meta Quest 2 and HTC Vive have seen significant success as devoted VR platforms, while other companies like PlayStation have created VR-based add-ons for their existing consoles. With many popular games like Skyrim and Among Us releasing VR versions, many fans have started to look to the future of VR technology, and a recent patent from Sony shows PSVR 2 may have something big in store.
Sony officially unveiled PSVR 2 in January during CES 2022, with the developer showing off several improvements coming to the PS5-focused platform. PSVR 2 was confirmed to feature 4K HDR graphics and an expanded field of view, with later updates revealing changes to the headset's hardware, making it slimmer than its PS4 counterpart. Sony has also reportedly filed several patents for major upgrades that could be coming to PSVR 2, like gaze tracking. The most recent of these patents shows Sony's newest VR headset may be able to accurately track a player's finger positions.
A patent filed by Sony and published late last week shows systems for the PSVR 2 to accurately track finger positions with the idea that the headset could digitally reconstruct a player's hand in-game. The system would reportedly be able to determine the finger positions of a player holding a controller using a combination of sensors in the controller as well as the VR headset's camera. The background section of the patent cites using controller sensor tracking alone as creating "dead zones for parts of a hand not near a sensor."
Sony's hand recognition technology for the PSVR 2 would look to use machine learning to fill in finger positions not captured by the controller's sensors. Previous patents filed by Sony have already suggested the PSVR 2 may use machine learning to determine where a player may look first with the newest patent suggesting the software will be able to determine players' hand positions. The proposed technology could allow for the system to create accurate representations of a player's hand within a game creating a deeper 1:1 VR experience.
The litany of recent patents related to PSVR 2 comes as Sony seems to have plenty in store for the launch of the new virtual reality platform. PSVR 2 has at least 20 games confirmed for its eventual launch, with PlayStation mainstay Horizon set to launch the PSVR 2-exclusive Horizon Call of the Mountain when the platform releases. Many fans will also look to the upcoming State of Play this coming Thursday, with Sony confirming the stream will feature more information on upcoming PSVR 2 games.