CES 2023: Sony unveils New Project Leonardo Accessibility Controller Kit for PS5

Project Leonardo, PS5's latest accessibility controller kit, has been announced astatine Sony's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 presentation. The institution shared astatine the lawsuit that it was moving connected a caller controller, designed to assistance players with disabilities play “easily, much comfortably, and for longer periods.” At the presentation, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan promised an out-of-the-box experience, providing a robust kit of customisable parts and a scope of bundle options connected the PS5. It is being developed with contributions from accessibility experts and organisations specified arsenic AbleGamers, SpecialEffect and Stack Up. Currently, determination is nary merchandise model oregon pricing details for PS5's codename Project Leonardo.

As per PlayStation's authoritative blog post, Project Leonardo is built to code communal challenges faced by players with “limited centrifugal control,” which includes difficulties successful holding a controller for agelong periods, digit positioning, and being incapable to accurately property small-sized buttons. This caller kit puts each those buttons onto 2 circular pads which prevarication level — 1 representing each fractional of a modular PS5 DualSense controller, with an expanded country of unit points. Sony describes the controller kit arsenic a “canvas for gamers” since it's afloat customisable to idiosyncratic preferences, with the bundle including a assortment of analogue instrumentality caps (one with grippy texture arsenic well) and buttons of antithetic shapes and sizes. Furthermore, 1 could besides set the region of the instrumentality from the gamepad.

Similar to the PS5's upcoming DualSense Edge controllers, Project Leonardo comes with a fastener mapping feature, including the quality to representation aggregate buttons to the aforesaid function. “Conversely, players tin representation 2 functions (like ‘R2' + ‘L2') onto the aforesaid button,” it adds. Players tin store their programmed fastener settings arsenic profiles — up to 3 tin beryllium saved — for casual enactment erstwhile switching betwixt crippled types. For instance, a first-person shooter mightiness necessitate a little camera sensitivity for accuracy, dissimilar a third-person enactment game. So now, you tin simply property the illustration fastener and swap connected the spell alternatively of heading into settings.

Project Leonardo tin beryllium utilized successful pairs (as stated before), standalone, oregon connected to a PS5 DualSense controller to grow your canvas and acceptable peculiar gaming needs. Its 4 3.5mm AUX ports assistance grow the functionality, allowing players to integrate outer switches oregon third-party analogue sticks — each of which tin beryllium dynamically connected/ disconnected and fastener mapped. “Because players tin customise Project Leonardo according to their needs, determination is nary 1 ‘right' signifier factor. We privation to empower them to make their ain configurations,” So Morimoto, Designer, Sony Interactive Entertainment, said successful the blog post.

Sony's first-party games already predominate the video crippled accessibility space, by offering a robust suite of options to assistance those suffering from centrifugal and ocular challenges. Both The Last of Us Part II and God of War Ragnarök were awarded successful the ‘Innovation successful Accessibility' class astatine The Game Awards 2020 and 2022, respectively.

Project Leonardo is presently successful development, with nary connection connected a motorboat model oregon pricing.

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