Is this the control pad for the PS4?

Update: this is, apparently, the controller for the PS4. Thankfully, the touchpad is small and unobtrusive. Check it out!

According to a 2012 patent filing, unearthed by Slashgear.com, Sony has been working on a new controller/pad for the upcoming PlayStation 4. The patent describes “An input device for an entertainment device”, with “one or more motion sensors operable to generate motion data, and a wireless communicator for transmitting the motion data to the entertainment device.”

From sketched images on the patent filing, a panel, tablet or slab-like device can be seen. On the left of the sketch is what suspiciously looks like the traditional buttons on the PlayStation SIXAXIS controller all gamers have come to know so well over the years. Codenamed the “EyePad”, it would allow 3D motion control for gaming, and work according to the motion-tracking specs of the PlayStation Move.

Looking more intently at the patent filing, it would also seem that Sony is aiming to incorporate all of the various controllers it has for the PlayStation into one 3D motion sensing pad. The slab would have illuminated sides that would operate in a similar fashion to the PlayStation Move’s motion-tracking, combined with a pair of cameras that would be centred on the area where a hand would be moving. Using stereoscopic 3D algorithms, the entire concept would then be able to track the movement of an object (a hand maybe) in the area above the slab’s display.

The possibilities this presents are literally endless. You could imagine something similar to holographic gaming as a good description. Players of a game could have the in-game settings appear right in front of them instead of viewing it on the TV screen. Could Sony be trying to take the battle to the Microsoft with a Kinect-like idea?

Image: PS4 controller via Destructoid.com