Sony shows off the next gen PSVR controller

Sony has thrown their support behind VR with the announcement that the next gen PSVR is in the works and today they're showing off their new controller. Having owned at least six different VR headsets, I thought I'd give my initial thoughts on seeing the design of their new controller.

The big news that I am really happy about is that it'll feature the haptic technology that's also in the DualSense controllers, which I feel is the best controller of the two new consoles. Not only that, but the adaptive triggers also will be a part of the controller, making this what should be one of the best physical feedback feeling peripheral you can get for VR. A lot goes into VR to make you have a big sense of presence and having controllers mimic what you feel on the screen is a big plus. The DualSense does a great job, for example, of mimicking tension when pulling back a wire in ASTRO's Playroom and I can see it translating well with these VR controllers.

There's capacitive touch sensitive areas around the controller so it can detect your fingers, just like the Valve Index controllers. We don't know if it's as extensive as the Index controllers where it can detect different levels of curling around the controller, but having this feature will open up some nice options to game developers for interaction in the VR world.

I do like that it has one analog stick on each controller. Having use touch pads on the Vive and Windows Mixed Reality controllers (they also have an analog stick with the touch pad), I can say using analog sticks to move around the world is a lot better and more precise.

Having used the Index controllers that let me just let go without dropping it, I wish Sony would've went with a similar route. Just having your hands free to rest for a moment is such a nice feature. Now, I've modded controllers to let me do this such as the Quest 2 by putting a strap on it so there could be that route to go with Sony's, but I rather they have designed it with that in mind.

The large rings around the wrist area is of a little concern for me for the fact it looks like it can get in the way of some operations. For example, take your hands and move them up near your face and position them like you would if you were holding a sniper rifle. You want to move your eye as close to the hands to get a better look down say iron sights. You're already going to be at a certain distance with a VR headset on your face and that ring will push you further away or interfere with the position of your hands. Again, I'll use the Valve Index controllers as an example where there's just one ring around the knuckle area that minimizes what interference there can be with a physical obstruction when you try to do hand motions like aiming or reloading so it doesn't pull you out of the VR world.

I do see the point of making the rings the way they are to be more balanced as some of the controllers like the Windows Mixed Reality controllers and the Vive wand controllers are more front heavy. Having the controllers be less wieldy in terms of weight and balance is a good thing, but we won't know how good they feel until we get them in our hands.

I don't think the rings would be an interference to making reloading of a gun hard to do. Like I have to fight with the Vive's large tracking ring that's away from my hands when doing some reloading in games like Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades. The rings would clash together if I tried to put my hands close to slide a clip in the gun. Here the Sony controller rings look like they wrap around the hand pretty close so bringing your hands together for certain actions seem fine.

All in all, I like some of the design decisions but have questions on others. But, I am glad to see Sony doing more in the VR space and seeing the evolution from the old wand to this hand held VR controller is a good thing. I can't wait to see more about their new PSVR and what the HMD has in terms of tech. Will it use two screens? Will it have proper IPD adjustment? Will it use LCD or OLEDs? Yes, I have questions. I have a lot of them!