There is an on-going debate about videogames and their impact on children for several decades now. One side argues that videogame violence impacts children directly and teaches that their actions have no consequences. The other side argues that videogames are healthy, they don’t any negative impacts, and that they are quite healthy.
The best solution to this problem is for games to be rated and parents to monitor what kind of games their children play. It seems that Sony is pushing for something similar with their DualShock 5 Controllers for their upcoming PS5. A new PlayStation 5 patent suggests that Sony will implement some kind of biometric parental controls for their upcoming console.
Since the patent is very complicated, we’re only going to discuss what’s important. For those who want to learn more about the patent can find it here.
The patent describes the parental controls as “establishing communications between a controller for operation by a user and a center device”. It seems the DualShock 5 controller will have some kind of a biometric authentication device. This device will have three major components.
- A biometric component that will scan the user.
- A second component that will store data.
- A third that will compare the scan from the storage and process accordingly.
The terminologies used in the patent are very complicated. It is likely the PS5 biometric component will be used to check the player, similar to how fingerprint locks work in smartphones. Parents can set it so that they can unlock the DualShock 5 controller and then give it to their child to play. It can also possible that children themselves can unlock it and play if they have been authenticated.
It is also possible that the PS5 will combine biometrics with deep learning for authentication. The patent also hints on parental controls being offered by an external device, something that can be bought separately for concerned parents.
Right now, Sony hasn’t commented regarding parental controls in the new PlayStation 5. This might give it some competitive edge against Xbox Anaconda, which is rumored to be more powerful than the PS5.
Whatever the case may be, it is likely we’ll find out whenever Sony reveals the PS5.
