Your PlayStation may soon automatically pause games when you take a break

Sony recently filed a new patent for a new technology that detects when you put down the controller and pauses, so your PlayStation can automatically pause the game for you.

Spotted by ResetEra user, the patent appears to apply to a method rather than a new controller. So don’t worry, you don’t have to spend $250 on new ones.

The patent states that “when the user puts down the game controller, the game does not know if the user is absent or just unresponsive.” This new approach aims to correct this by using the controller’s sensors to determine what is happening.

“Current principles allow a gaming system or game to determine whether the user has abandoned the game or is only briefly paused, thereby allowing the simulation system to take immediate action without waiting for the AwayFromKeyboard timer to expire,” the patent reads.

This method has a multi-step process. Identify controller movement -> identify wireless signal strength -> identify controller performance -> identify microphone amplitude -> identify term in microphone signal -> identify image from camera -> determine trust -> set timer period -> at Slow down game and hint after one period -> Pause game after second period.

The idea of your PlayStation listening to you and using a connected camera to search for you is kind of scary, but as long as that data isn’t stored or sent anywhere and you can opt out of this feature, it should be too bad.

This will also help reduce the power consumption of the PlayStation, as they reduce processing power when games are slowed down or paused. It’s especially useful during the current cost-of-living crisis, since even turning off a console costs money.

In other controller news, EA has patented a way to change settings based on your skills. So not only does our controller pause the game for us, but it’s quick to call us noobs.