Haptic Feedback in games is not a new concept. Developers use it creatively to increase the immersiveness and Sony’s Dualsense controller is a great device to implement the haptic feedback technology in games. Sony also has a lot of patents related to this tech as they naturally want to improve upon it.
While I was browsing their recently made public patents, an interesting patent came up that describes how the company could use Haptics to improve UI navigation. The patent reads:
Haptic support for UI navigation is provided so that in addition to visual cues such as a cursor moving onscreen and audio cues such as sound effects tactile feedback is provided through haptic generators in an input device such as a computer simulation controller. As the cursor moves right, for example, a haptic generator on the right side of the controller may be activated to generate a tactile sensation on the right side of the controller, and vice versa.
So, the purpose of this patent is to secure a concept that will make UI navigation more immersive. Although not game-changing, if Sony decides to introduce such a feature with future updates or even devices, it will be a welcome addition. Custom themes could use this feature to add interesting haptics to make them look more appealing. Actions like scrolling, moving left and moving right, or even pressing a button could offer different effects based on the need.
Sony already has a big list of PS5 games that support and use haptic feedback technology, and this little feature can further add value for gamers. But again, since it’s just a patent, for the time being, we should keep our hopes in check.