A new patent from Sony filed back in September 2006 found at the United States Patent and Trademark Office has indicated that they are developing a truly new control system. One of the ideas seems to be some kind of voice activation system whereby players use microphones with voice activation software to match you with a game character. Moreover there is more talk about GPS positioning in conjunction with speaker/microphone paradigm locators. The patents also reveal a focus on more complicated pressure sensitivity as well as a bio-feedback device which will function like a more advanced Wii remote for your head!

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Thanks to the wonderful public database of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, we've located an intriguing document filed by Sony back in September 2006. Buried within the interminable bureaucratic wordage are two high-potential projects: Voice-active consoles and pressure-sensitive buttons.

Voice-active consoles? The intention seems to be to use microphones housed on a console with voice-recognition software, for actions like analysing your voice to match you with a game's character, or recalling your personal config settings at the sound of your voice. There's even a suggestion that noise-making gizmos could be packaged in cereal boxes, with the specific noise they make triggering an unlockable item in-game.

Then there's some crazy talk about GPS positioning and speaker/microphone paradigm locators. But we can't say we really understood what it meant.

As for pressure-sensitive buttons, it's not exactly a new idea. The Dual Shock 2's buttons were somewhat analogue - ever noticed you could rev slowly in GT3 using the X button? But Sony's new technology idea would create buttons that, according to the patent, have three distinct stages of input. And it would also work with the D-pad, giving us a viable alternative to using occasionally squiffy analogue sticks. Or, as above, in a dance mat-ish thing.