14 DAY TRIAL // The DualShock 4 controller that's going to appear for the PlayStation 4 next-gen home console has a special light-bar, which, according to Sony, can play multiple roles.
For example, it can differentiate controllers between them, but it can also track the location of the player or even change colors depending on the character's health in a game.
The PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller was officially revealed to the world alongside the console back in February, and impressed through its redesigned aspect and the promise of unique features such as a touch-sensitive pad in the middle.
Another intriguing aspect is a light-bar situated on the front of the controller, which is powered by LEDs and can change colors.
According to Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, the controller's light-bar had plenty of input from the PlayStation Move team, which made the special motion control peripheral.
"The light-bar doesn’t require the camera to function. It’s just a different way of identifying the player. In terms of using the LED [as in the Dualshock 3, with] numbers like 1, 2, 3 and 4, it looked a bit odd. The SCEI people wanted some smarter way of doing it, and the use of a full-color LED came up," Yoshida told Edge.
"And of course, as [the Richard Marks] team pointed out, other than the depth that required the use of PS Move, identifying the precise 2D location of the player can be [done] by camera, if we put the LED bar on the controller."
What's more, Yoshida even said that the color can change depending on the player's health inside the game, and even noted that Guerrilla Games' Killzone: Shadow Fall has such a system.
"So it has a dual – or it could be a triple – role because game designers could use it for some effect. Like when [players are] losing HP, the color could change from green to red. Like in the Killzone demo, if you were watching Steven playing, [that game] has that function already."
"People were watching the main screen, but Steven was facing the audience, showing how the light bar color changes as he was hit by the enemy; as he lost hit points the color was changing from green to red. And when he used the health replenishment, it went back to green."
The DualShock 4 is expected to receive more details and technical demonstrations in the near future, probably at E3 2013 in June.