According to a new patent that has come to light, it looks like Sony is working on a new version of DualSense that would improve the PS5 controller with some very useful features.

Sony is likely to be developing a new version of the DualSense controller that would be able to give gameplay hints by selectively illuminating the surface of the buttons, according to some newly unearthed patent documents. While there is no guarantee that this solution will ever be commercialised, the underlying technology looks promising to make PlayStation games more accessible if it ever comes to market.

Releasing with PlayStation 5 in late 2020, DualSense offered a number of notable improvements over its DualShock 4 predecessor, which debuted with PS4. The current-generation controller introduced support for haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, among other things, and also replaced the DualShock 4’s microUSB port with a USB-C port.

Sony is also filing a pair of brand new patents for a spherical PlayStation 5 controller that could add another level of immersion to VR games.

Sony’s newly released controller patent reveals that the gaming giant has recently experimented with an improved version of its DualSense gamepad, which can provide gameplay action cues by illuminating button surfaces. The patent, which was obtained on 30 November, describes a predictive assistance solution that uses a machine learning model to continuously monitor a player’s performance and determine when help is needed. If it decides that the player is (soon) stuck, the experimental system would alert the player to the controller itself by lighting up the buttons, suggesting the next step.

Sony’s controller patent with predictive AI assist features

The button presses would also be printed on the controller’s touchpad, which would in effect act as a display. This isn’t the first patent to suggest that the DualSense 2 could have a touchscreen instead of a touchpad, as another such IP filing surfaced online back in September. As for the concept in question, the controller described in it would be able to illuminate not only the buttons, including the shoulder switches, but also both analogue sticks.

Dynamic button lights are not an unprecedented idea in the gaming industry

While the artificial intelligence mechanism that determines when to use this hardware capability is relatively new, the idea of lighting buttons for easier access is far from unprecedented. For example, all modern Razer gaming keyboards support the Razer Chroma Profiles feature, which allows developers and gamers alike to create unique color patterns that highlight their assigned controls on a per-game basis.

The mere existence of the patent is no guarantee that the technology it describes will ever see the light of day. This is doubly true, given that the announcement that has just surfaced comes from Sony, one of the world’s most prolific consumer electronics pioneers; according to a recent Statista study, Sony has filed nearly 1,400 patents in 2022 alone, most of which are not expected to be commercialised in the near future, if ever.