Sony's new PSVR controllers have me hankering for new Valve Index Knuckles
That haptic feedback, man
Sony unveiled their next-gen PlayStation VR controllers today, and boy do they look familiar. Having ditched the ice cream cone motion controllers of yore, the next-gen PSVR controllers will adopt a similar, ergonomic orb shape to ones we currently enjoy on the Oculus Quest 2 and HTC Vive Cosmos. But there's one feature in particular that I would love to see come to those PC VR headsets. That's right, folks. Dualsense is coming to VR, and I want it.
Technically, Sony aren't calling it proper Dualsense at the moment, but each VR controller will come with an adaptive trigger button "that adds palpable tension when pressed, similar to what's found in the Dualsense controller," according to the PlayStation Blog. "If you’ve played a PS5 game, you’ll be familiar with the tension in the L2 or R2 buttons when you press them, such as when you’re drawing your bow to fire an arrow. When you take that kind of mechanic and apply it to VR, the experience is amplified to the next level."
That's not all, either, as each controller will also provide more general haptic feedback that will apparently let you "feel the difference" between traversing a rocky desert, say, and biffing someone in a boxing game, claim Sony. That sounds pretty rad if you ask me, and it's something that's currently sorely lacking in PC VR controllers. Just think of what it could mean for the future of pretending to eat Half-Life: Alyx's virtual bread rolls!
Like the Valve Index controllers, the new PSVR controllers will also be able to detect your fingers without needing to physically press anything on the controller, although from the looks of things it doesn't look like you'll be able to let go of them completely like you can on the Index. Unlike the Index, though, the new PSVR controllers will be tracked by the headset thanks to a sneaky tracking ring across the bottom of the controller. Sony haven't yet said whether the headset itself will require the use of any external trackers just yet - all they've revealed so far is that it will connect to the PS5 via a single cord and that it will enhance everything from resolution and field of view to tracking and input.
The next-gen PSVR headset and controllers are still a long way off from being available to buy just yet. Sony have already said it won't be launching in 2021, so it will be next year at the earliest that we'll get to see exactly what kind of impact these not-Dualsense controllers have on the way we play VR games. In the meantime, though, I would love to see a new version of the Index knuckles with some sort of Dualsense-esque haptic feedback built-in at some point. The bread rolls deserve it!