In a patent application approved June 26, Sony has revealed details about a
possible successor to the PSP. The two separate patents discuss a
motion-sensing device that may function as a handheld gaming device or a
contoller input with Wii-like capabilities.
One patent outlines a strange type of screen that contains “tactile pixels”,
capable of being both stimulated by touch and providing physical feedback to
the player. The highly-technical patent seems to describe a touch screen
that touches you back!
“The device may comprise a case having one or more major surfaces; a touch
screen disposed on one of the major surfaces, the touch screen; a processor
operably coupled to the touch screen; and one or more tactile pixels
disposed proximate the touch screen. Each of the tactile pixels includes an
actuatable portion coupled to an actuator and a sensor. The actuator and
sensor are coupled to the processor. The actuator is configured to actuate
in response to instructions from the processor and the sensor is configured
to generate signals as inputs to one or more programs executed by the
processor when pressure is applied to the actuatable portion.”
The patent states that this technology could be used in a “game device,
phone, portable media player, email device, web browser device or navigation
device”. Since the current PSP is all of these things, it makes sense that
this patent could provide clues about what the successor to the PSP will
look and feel like.
The second patent of interest is for a handheld device that “recognizes
gestures”. This could describe a component of a device that will include the
tactile touch function covered in the first patent.
Both patents seem to point toward a multi-featured handheld device that
takes input via touch screen, feeds tactile information back to the user,
and recognizes motion as a form of input. In other words, this is what you
would get if you crossed the three most popular electronic consume products:
the Wii, the DS and the iPhone.
By Kris Erickson
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