As a part of an emerging virtual reality market, Sony will be releasing its PlayStation VR anytime this year, which analysts expect will be a hit given an over 30 million PS4 owners; a new report, however, reveals that Sony is also developing a new device called the "glove interface object."
In its report, CNBC said that Sony has been recently awarded a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office last February 25 for a glove called the "glove interface object." The said high-tech glove comes with sensors that could track the movement of the hand and could connect with a processor and head mounted display.
In Sony's patent, it said, "A growing trend in the computer gaming industry is to develop games that increase the interaction between the user and the gaming system."
"One way of accomplishing a richer interactive experience is to use the wireless game controllers whose movement is tracked by the gaming system in order to track the player's movements and use these movements as inputs for the game," the patent added.
CNBC further said that the "glove interface object" awarded to Sony may only be a patent that may or may not be pursued; but the move signifies the company's goal of trying to innovate in the virtual reality industry.
The report, however, cited that the new patent "have the potential to cannibalize future PlayStation sales," with the gloves possibly directly competing with the PlayStation 4 consoles.
In a statement, Chief Executive of game industry consultancy Kantan Games explained, "You could argue, why should they establish a competitor to its already existing and well running PlayStation business, especially in the current generation? Sony is clearly winning against its rivals."
Meanwhile, Sony has announced a PlayStation VR event on March 15. According to Mirror, some experts believe that the event will have Sony reveal the price and release date of the PlayStation VR. The event will be taking place at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
