Summary
- Sony secured a patent for PS5-compatible AR glasses.
- The company envisioned a gadget that would allow players to manipulate physical objects like pieces of paper to model mixed reality levels.
- While Sony has been exploring AR gaming applications for a while now, it has yet to signal an intention to commercialize such technology.
Some newly surfaced patent documentation suggests that Sony may be working on a pair of augmented reality glasses that could delegate the bulk of their processing to the PlayStation 5. While there's no guarantee that the company will ever release such a PS5 gadget, it has already come up with some specific and potentially highly entertaining uses for it.
Although Sony has been maintaining a commercial presence in VR gaming since 2016, when it launched the PS VR, the company has yet to extend its ambitions to the AR space. Even so, recent years have seen an uptick in Sony's patent activity pertaining to augmented reality technology, suggesting that the company could be getting closer to commercializing such solutions.
The latest evidence testifying to that trend comes in the form of a newly secured Sony patent describing a pair of PS5-compatible AR glasses that would help users turn tangible substrates into mixed reality playgrounds. The accompanying documentation reviewed by The Best War Games describes an application in which the player curls a piece of paper that is then 3D-mapped by the glasses and consequently turned into a dirt bike racetrack. Another use case mentioned in the filing describes a platforming level made from folded paper. The technology could also combine multiple substrates into virtual playgrounds, the patent claims.
Sony's PS5-Compatible AR Glasses Concept
These applications are radically different to those of the AR headset that Sony patented in mid-2023, which was largely envisioned as an immersive screen extension instead of a true mixed reality gaming gadget. The actual gameplay processing required for the technology to work would be handled by an external system, with one of the illustrations attached to the patent depicting an example of the glasses connecting to the PS5 and DualSense. However, Sony noted that the glasses could also work with third-party hardware. Delegating the bulk of processing tasks to a console or PC would ostensibly keep production costs down if Sony were to actually attempt making the gadget.
The company originally filed to secure this patent in August 2022, with its application finally being granted in late February. The very existence of the concept further underlines the conglomerate's ongoing interest in augmented reality. Aside from the technology itself, the group is also thinking about the content side of the AR gaming equation, with its IP filing track record indicating that Sony has already been exploring AR game concepts for years.
Whether the gaming giant actually tries to commercialize this technology remains to be seen. The PlayStation VR2 hasn't been selling particularly well, much like its predecessor, which might make Sony think twice before committing resources to an even more nascent field such as AR gaming.
Sony PlayStation 5
- 4K Capabilities
- Yes, Up to 4K 120Hz
- Power Source
- AC Power
The Sony PlayStation 5 console is one of the most popular gaming machines currently with a fast SSD, a custom AMD APU, and 16GB of GDDR6 console memory, making it one of the best options on the market. It also happens to have a surprising number of console exclusives and currently trades at a discount at multiple retailers nationwide.
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info- What's Included
- Console, HDMI Cable, Controller, A/C Power, Stand, Documentation
- Brand
- Sony PlayStation
- Processing Power
- Up to 10.3 TFLOPS
- Storage
- 825GB
- CPU
- Custom 8-Core Zen 2
- Battery
- Built-in with the controller
- Weight
- 12 pounds
- RAM
- 16GB GDDR6