Astro Bot DualSense Push Square

Sony has filed a patent that, as likely as not, will never see the light of day. Known by the wonderfully evocative name, Sony Patent WO2025010132 "TIMED INPUT/ACTION RELEASE", the speculative tech aims to streamline the "timed release of user commands" by using AI to determine your next button press.

Spotted by Tech4Gamers (thanks, IGN), this could work in several ways. A camera pointed at the player's fingers would use machine learning to predict the player's movements and, theoretically, cut down on input time. Sony rationalized this tech thusly: "There can be latency between the user's input action and the system's subsequent processing and execution of the command. This, in turn, results in delayed execution of the command and unintended consequences in the game itself." No more blaming your losses on input lag, eh?

Another possible sensor, instead of the impractical finger-camera, could be inside the controller button itself. PlayStation is clearly on board with using AI to improve its products, with its first official upscaler, PSSR, shipping with PS5 Pro consoles. Who knows, perhaps the DualSense could get an AI upgrade for the PS6?

Sony Predictive Patent

What do you think of Sony's predictive button tech, which, like many other patents, will probably never be acted upon meaningfully? What do you think of the prospect? We've taken the liberty of predicting your response in the comments section below.

[source tech4gamers.com, via ign.com]