Sony originally planned to have biometric sensors in PlayStation 4 controller

Sony has undoubtedly tested out a lot of prototypes before settling on the new design for the PlayStation 4’s DualShock 4 controller. The console’s architect Mark Cerny revealed in an interview with Stuff that an early prototype of the DualShock 4 was equipped with Biometric sensors. This would essentially give the controller the ability to measure things like heartbeats.

“We had a long research project where we looked at pretty much any idea we could think of,” Cerny told Stuff. “Would it help to measure the galvanic response of the skin? We tried out a tremendous number of things - and then we went to the game teams to ask them what they thought they could use from the controller.”

The design that Sony finally settled with

The changes between the DualShock 4 and DualShock 3 have been a bit drastic, and universally considered to have been for better. The new controller has redesigned triggers and a smoother, yet familiar, design that makes it more comfortable to hold.

“Historically we have heard many times that our controllers have not been ideal for first-person shooters, so we wanted to make sure we had something that would be much better for that genre,” he said. “We tested the throw of the triggers, the position of the triggers, how much pressure it takes. We looked at the joysticks, the dead spot, we looked at convexity and concavity. [It> feels extraordinarily natural.”

We had heard about a DualShock 4 prototype with a biometric sensor back in January. The prototype also had a touchscreen in the middle. However, the biometric sensor has since been removed and the touchscreen has been replaced with a trackpad.