Sony's latest patent hints at a potential game-changer for future PlayStation consoles: AI-powered latency reduction. The patent, WO2025010132, focuses on optimizing "timed release of user commands" by predicting player inputs.
Sony's current upscaler, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), while impressive, faces challenges with newer frame generation technologies that introduce latency. Competitors AMD and Nvidia have addressed this with Radeon Anti-Lag and Nvidia Reflex, respectively, prompting Sony's innovative approach.
The patent details a system combining a machine learning AI model and external sensors, potentially a camera observing controller inputs, to anticipate player actions. The AI predicts the next button press, minimizing the lag between input and in-game response. The patent also suggests integrating this technology into controller buttons themselves, potentially leveraging analog inputs.
While the exact implementation in a future PlayStation 6 remains uncertain, the patent demonstrates Sony's commitment to mitigating latency issues introduced by advanced rendering techniques like FSR 3 and DLSS 3. This is especially crucial for fast-paced games demanding high frame rates and low latency, such as twitch shooters. The future application of this technology in actual hardware is yet to be determined.
