Sony Patents Controller With Movable Grips To Improve Vibrations

The variable grip could let you hold the controller easily in more angles to feel vibrations.

PlayStation DualSense Edge Controllers Are Some Of The Most Well-Equipped Options You Can Buy | Image Source: Newscon

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Sony has published a new patent about a controller with movable grips to improve vibration quality.
Players can hold the grip at different angles to ensure no gap is left between the grip and the palm.
The moving grips could be added to modern controllers, as teased by the patent’s drawing section.

A new legal doc published by the company now wants to introduce movable grips on controllers to improve vibrations. The publisher states that the vibration quality of controllers can vary significantly based on how you are holding them, which means that players cannot always have a consistent high-quality experience during gameplay.

The patent dubbed “INPUT DEVICE WITH VARIABLE GRIP” wants to make controller grips movable from their position to adjust to the player’s palms. This change would let us feel the same level of vibrations regardless of the way we hold a controller since there would be no gap left between the grip and the palm.

The grip includes a grip main body, a grip movable portion constituting a part of the side surfaces of the grip, and a vibration motor attached to the grip movable portion. A relative position between the grip movable portion and the grip main body is changeable,” reads the patent.

The figure shows a plan view depicting another example of a controller with movable grips | Image Source: Patentscope — The figure shows a plan view depicting an example of a modern controller with movable grips | Image Source: Patentscope

Sony argues that the “vibration intensity” that reaches the player’s hands can decrease depending on the grip strength, which makes it quite awkward to hold a controller for longer periods. However, when the grip itself moves and sets into a user’s palm, the vibration intensity would no longer be affected. This change would make it quite comfortable to hold PlayStation controllers for hours of intense gameplay.

However, the vibration intensity transmitted to the hand of a user decreases depending on the manner of holding a grip. For example, when a gap is left between the grip and the palm, the vibration intensity transmitted to the hand of the user decreases.”