Sony files patent for 'EyePad'

Sony has filed a patent for the "EyePad," a tablet controller made to work in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye.

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Sony registers patents at a fairly regular pace, and nothing ever comes of some of them. But sometimes, they're just so bizarre or interesting that we have to take a look. A new patent from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe details the "EyePad," a flat tablet that interacts with a variety of functions.

The patent (via Kotaku) was filed in the summer of 2012, and seems to be for the sake of R&D. The screen can act as a touchpad, detect motion above the touchpad with embedded cameras, and track motion with the PlayStation Eye.

The "EyePad" moniker seems to be a code name, and it may never come to market. We have heard rumors that Sony is interested in putting a touch screen on its PlayStation 4 controller, and yesterday we even saw a rumored prototype. It could be that this device is a precursor to that controller, another control option, or even just an R&D project that never gets off the ground. Only time will tell.

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  • reply
    February 15, 2013 4:30 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Sony files patent for 'EyePad'.

    Sony has filed a patent for the "EyePad," a tablet controller made to work in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye.

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      February 15, 2013 4:34 PM

      I'm sure Apple will be totally ok with this...

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        February 15, 2013 7:35 PM

        Not sure there is a whole lot they can do. Its not the actual name. If Nvidia can get away with giving one of their processors the codename Kal-El I don't think there will be a problem. Sony has had the eye toy for years before the ipad and we don't know for sure how this pad will work with that if at all.

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          February 15, 2013 7:46 PM

          The Nvidia situation is not even remotely the same (a GPU and Superman don't cause any market confusion in similar product segments) but yeah obviously if the final name is different it's nbd

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            February 15, 2013 9:32 PM

            Not to mention Nvidia never sold their product as Kal-El. You can internally refer to something as just about anything you want.

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              February 15, 2013 10:00 PM

              Our new product, codenamed "duckbutter" . . .

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          February 16, 2013 2:29 PM

          It's a codename NOC

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      February 15, 2013 4:37 PM

      Oh this is gonna end well.

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      February 15, 2013 4:37 PM

      Haha good luck with that.

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      February 15, 2013 4:39 PM

      looooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

      Oh Sony, Samsung is laughing at you in pity right now....

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      February 15, 2013 4:42 PM

      If this comes to market, it seems like Sony throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. I don't see it going anywhere.

      As an aside, I hate the practice of patenting things the patent holder never intends to market. I wish they could be invalidated after a certain amount of time (shorter than normal patent expiration).

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        February 16, 2013 7:05 AM

        it looks like they're just copying nintendo. i'm more curious as to how much more this is going to add to the cost for the next playstation. wiiu is like $400(?) retail and sony is going to aim for higher specs.

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          February 16, 2013 7:35 AM

          I don't think this particular gadget will ever make it to market, but I could be wrong.

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            February 16, 2013 8:47 AM

            they're already rumored to have a lcd screen on the controller, it'd be foolish of them to not make it a touch screen.

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      February 15, 2013 4:43 PM

      I can hear a set of lawyers lining their pockets with gold already.

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      February 15, 2013 4:50 PM

      Codenames can be whatever you want.

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      February 15, 2013 5:03 PM

      LOL

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      February 15, 2013 5:50 PM

      That is totally not a misleading product name.

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      February 15, 2013 6:33 PM

      [deleted]

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      February 16, 2013 5:17 AM

      Whoever drew that needs a lesson in perspective. How could they try to patent a cuboid whose edges aren't parallel?

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        February 16, 2013 6:43 AM

        They are parallel.

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          February 16, 2013 6:08 PM

          Absolutely NOT.

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            February 16, 2013 6:17 PM

            I think some of you are confused about what parallel means.

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              February 17, 2013 10:34 AM

              Please elaborate.

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                February 17, 2013 11:04 AM

                The lines in that drawing are parallel. (not counting 1 degree errors of a hand-drawn image)

                If the image was done with linear perspective, (size diminishment over distance) then the lines would no longer be parallel. They would converge on each other, the further away they were.

                This is an orthographic drawing. There is no linear perspective.

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                  February 17, 2013 11:46 AM

                  Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Thank you.

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        February 16, 2013 7:21 AM

        It's drawn orthographic , pretty common on blueprints.

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      February 16, 2013 6:53 AM

      a tablet controller..? why does that sound so familiar...

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