The PlayStation VR2 headset can track its companion Sense controllers thanks to a number of IR LEDs hidden within the spherical controllers, according to new teardown videos Sony posted Tuesday night.
Under the Sense controller cover, the controller itself has a ring of 14 IR LEDs and three placed elsewhere for tracking, as shown in the Sense teardown video. “These infrared lights are used by the VR headset’s tracking camera to detect the position and orientation of the controller,” said Sony’s Takeshi Igarashi, who also designed the DualSense controller, explains in the video. “The LEDs are placed in optimal locations to ensure they are accurately detected no matter which direction the controller is facing.” And the cover on the controllers is even made of a material that “transmits the infrared light that’s emitted internally to track the movement of the controller,” he says.
The Sense teardown video also shows off the five capacitive touch sensors on the controller, a look at the adaptive trigger component (which works like on the DualSense), and even that there are little PlayStation button icons embossed on the controller.
And for the headset itself, that teardown is pretty cool too; I was thrilled to see Takamasa Araki, the lead designer of the PSVR2 (and the first PSVR!), expertly disassemble the front of the headset and headband. I would especially recommend scrubbing 6:07 or so, where you can see what it looks like inside the headset when you turn the lens adjustment dial. Oh, and the headset’s eye-tracking feature? As Araki shows, there’s an IR LED around each lens and an IR camera that captures the light from the LED, and they work together to track your eye’s movements. Super cool.
I really recommend you check out both headphones and the controller teardowns, they are fascinating. However, Sony warns against attempting the disassembly yourself, noting that taking your hardware apart will void the warranty.
