Published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today, Sony Computer Entertainment and Tokyo Institute of Technology have filed a patent application for interface apparatus that presents “a force sense at a remote place or in a virtual space to a user.” You can check out one of the drawings above.
An abstract from the application is as follows:
In an interface apparatus for presenting a force sense at a remote place or in a virtual space to a user, the number of motors for exerting force upon fingers of the user is decreased. The interface apparatus includes a first arm and a second arm for being attached to the thumb and a finger other than the thumb, respectively. A motor includes a motor main body supported for rotation, and a rotary shaft that relatively rotates with respect to the motor main body. The rotary shaft is connected to the second arm. The motor main body is connected to the first arm so as to impart rotation thereof to the first arm.
Going by the description, it’s quite possible that the device has to do with Sony’s PlayStation VR. However, a patent application does not indicate whether the product is being developed or not.
Although revealed today, the application was filed way back in August 2013. What do our readers make of this?
To see detailed drawings and descriptions of each, follow the source link.
