Sony Unleashes Deluge of Handheld Touchscreen Patents

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Sony Unleashes Deluge of Handheld Touchscreen Patents



Rumors on the upcoming PSP2's capabilities could be backed up by recently unveiled Sony patent filings.

Eight patents filed by Sony in October 2009 and unveiled this week could provide some hints towards what we'll see in Sony's unannounced but confirmed to exist PSP2. Five of the patents refer to new methods of touch control in handheld devices, while the others are related to user interface.

The patents for concepts such as a "handheld device with two-finger touch triggered selection and transformation of active elements" appear to corroborate early images [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102892-Rumor-PSP-2-Features-Reverse-Touch-Screen-Controls] of the PSP2 show what is believed to be this touchpad, further backed up by these patents and their images that revolve around a touchpad that's separate from a device's screen.

According to some of the patent text, the idea behind the new touchpad method is to prevent people's fingers from getting in the way of the screens they're using. It reads: "The visual displays used in hand-held devices are relatively small compared to computer screens or television screens ... Unfortunately, because the screen is small, the user's fingers often obscure the part that is to be selected making selection difficult."

Using the methods described in the patents, a separate touch screen would allow for better control over a handheld device by accurately providing the ability to zoom or transform on-screen elements while seeing precisely where your finger is, just like a mouse icon on a computer. The other Sony patents refer to dynamic reconfiguration and composition of a user interface, so we may also see something new in the PSP2 with regards to how its software operates.

Of course, there's always the possibility that Sony will apply some of these patents towards the rumored PlayStation Phone [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105508-Sony-Ericsson-Exec-Drops-Hints-of-PSP-Phone] instead. Either way, Sony definitely has something intriguing in the works that involves touching stuff.

Source: Engadget [http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20100299595&OS=20100299595&RS=20100299595]

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twm1709

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Nov 19, 2009
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Am I the only one who misread the articles title as SONIC UNLEASHED? maybe I'm just obsessed :p
 

Deleted

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Jul 25, 2009
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I guess that they were in such a rush that they half-assed the drawing of the hand...
 

Electrogecko

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Apr 15, 2010
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I can imagine how this could work incredibly well and be a huge improvement to handheld touchscreens and I can imagine it being a complete failure.
 

Atmos Duality

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Mar 3, 2010
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Well, at least Sony is attempting to change the controls on the PSP.
Whether or not these changes will be good has yet to be seen.
 

mjc0961

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Nov 30, 2009
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Serris said:
so nintendo releases the DS, which has a touchscreen (when the PSP did not).
now their new device is going to have a touchscreen.
No it isn't. Did you read the article? It is a touch pad. Touch screen indicates that the surface is both a touch controlled interface and a screen for displaying content. Sony it just looking at making a touch pad, which is just the touch controlled interface part. As it says in the patent, they don't want it to be a screen too because your fingers get in the way of the action.

And I think this is an interesting and very smart move by Sony if they use this. I hated Phantom Hourglass on the DS partly because my stylus was always in the way of the action (and partly because everything else in the game was rubbish), and I always laugh at those new iPhone commercials when they get to the part where they say "it plays games" and the guys, thumbs are blocking a third of the screen. Yeah that makes me want to run right out and buy an iPhone, Apple.
 

CrankyStorming

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Mar 8, 2010
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At last, a workable substitute for L2 and R2.

I can understand why they might want to put it on the back, but the whole screen-obscuring thing has never been a problem for me.