With the PS5 launch on the horizon, we're at a point where we know more about the next-gen console's DualSense controller than we do about the PlayStation 5 itself. But that's not to say there won't still be a few more secrets to come for the PS5 gamepad.
A newly uncovered patent points to the potential for additional hardware add-ons for the DualSense 5, that could bring with them some much-requested features.
- PS5 vs Xbox Series X: which console will win?
- What do we know about the PS5 price?
- The best PS4 games
Chief among these is wireless charging – the ability to leave your pad on a charging surface and have its internal battery powered up without plugging in a cable.
The document's abstract details "a wireless charging adapter that can snap onto a computer game controller [sic] can be inductively coupled to a charging base to wirelessly recharge a battery in the controller."
What's not clear is whether the existing battery technology in the DualSense could support such a method, or if this would be an add-on for an as-yet-to-be-unveiled second generation pad.
Extra buttons
The patent also goes on to include and describe how the adaptor could add additional buttons to the DualSense:
"The adapter also can include keys that mirror keys on the controller so that a gamer can remove the adapter with controller from the charging base, keep the adapter on the controller, and use both the controller keys and adapter keys to control a computer game."
Sony already has some experience with a similar button-adding accessory, with the DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment adding access to a couple of extra assignable buttons. Sony's certainly not against the idea historically then, so this patent is one to watch.
- DualSense controller: what we know
- When can you buy PS5?
