Sony patent points to PlayStation buttons that react to in-game surfaces
Buttons can change stiffness through magnetic materials.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has published a patent application for a controller with buttons that can change hardness during gameplay. The patent is titled “ Operation device, information processing apparatus, control method thereof, and program .”
The application was filed on November 21, 2024, and published on May 28, 2026, under publication number WO2026/110304. It details an input device with an operation member, a contact part on its surface, and a hardness control unit. This means the part touched by the player could change how stiff it feels while the controller is being used.
Source: Dexerto
Sony lists several possible implementations. One version uses a magnetoviscoelastic elastomer (and I thought monitor names were uncool) which can soften or harden depending on magnetic field strength. Another version refers to fluid-filled membranes that could change the feel of the button surface.
The patent also gives gameplay examples. A button could become harder when a character touches hard ground or an object. It could soften when the character moves through mud or a swamp. One example also describes a “finger grab” effect, where the button softens around the player’s finger and then hardens again. I wonder how this would work in a game like Surgeon Simulator.
Source: Dexerto
