Sony patents method to create a banana controller for PlayStation

Sony has just filed a patent application for a method to create a PlayStation banana controller. Yup, you read that right. A recently revealed patent filing explains how Sony is planning to develop a technology that will allow your standard, everyday banana to replace the traditional PlayStation gaming controller.

According to the patent, “It would be desirable if a user could use an inexpensive, simple and non-electronic device as a video game peripheral.”

Sony even shared images of how a banana controller could be used for videogames. In one of the diagrams in the patent filing, the image showcases a solitary banana controller being held the way one would normally hold a video game controller, with the “X” and “Δ” buttons affixed on either end of the fruit. (Read: Remembering Sony’s cheekiest digs and sickest burns against their competitors’ consoles prior to launch)

So, how is it supposed to work? According to Sony, a camera will capture images of the fruit in users’ hands, and it will be tracked through its pixels, colors, and contours. Typically, QR codes and similar technology are used for tracking objects. However, as mentioned, Sony wants to do away with complicated technology when it comes to gaming devices, and doing this may just be the right step in their desired direction.

Now, this whole thing may sound bananas to you, but it turns out everyone’s favorite yellow fruit isn’t the only thing that Sony wants to convert into a controller. In fact, according to the patent filing, any “non-luminous passive object being held by a user” can pass as a gaming controller. This means that once Sony perfects this new technology, you would be able to use just about any object in your house to play your favorite video game. There are even references in the filing for using two oranges to serve as a steering wheel for driving games or as controls for a tank. As the cherry on top, the patent filing also has a section labeled “Two-Object Controller”, which we assume could pave the way for players to engage in multiplayer gaming using two bananas instead of just one.

Hypothetically, if Sony can pull this off, it would mean that they would need to develop their consoles and respective games to accommodate the new technology. A game would then either have to be programmed to recognize particular objects, such as bananas, as controllers. A game could also be programmed to inform gamers of items they could use as controllers when they start the game.

Of course, motion sensors might not always be able to detect the controllers, so it would be interesting to see how Sony further develops this technology. However, there is no way for us to tell if it would work, or if players would actually enjoy playing on such a controller as opposed to Sony’s traditional controllers. If given the option, would you choose to play video games using the banana you bought from the supermarket?

We all just have to wait and see what Sony will do next. After all, it’s only a patent application at this point. It doesn’t mean that Sony will actually come up with a prototype. But, if they do, it may just alter gaming as we know it.

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