Promotional video announcing Sony’s Project Leonardo accessibility controller.
After years of complaints from gamers with disabilities about the limitations of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, Sony is taking the first formal steps to improve control accessibility on its latest console. The company said Project Leonardo, which was unveiled Wednesday night at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, was designed “with key contributions from accessibility experts, his members of the community, and game developers.” According to Sony’s announcement, the upcoming control solutions are aimed at making it easier, more comfortable and longer for players with disabilities to play games.
As shown, the Project Leonardo device consists of one arcade-style analog joystick and a control ring surrounded by eight large white input plates and a giant circular input surface in the middle. All of these buttons can be customized to any standard input or combination of inputs, and the device itself can be laid flat on a surface without needing to be held active.
Project Leonardo comes with a number of interchangeable stick caps, buttons and labels for customization, as well as support for adjusting the distance between stick and button. Players can use up to two Project Leonardo controllers, or combine them with a DualSense controller as a single input, allowing friends and family to collaborate and assist with secondary devices. The player can also connect a variety of existing external accessibility accessories via four standard 3.5mm AUX ports.
“The best part about the new PlayStation controller is that it’s been designed from the ground up to be non-standard.
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Project Leonardo features an array of customizable buttons and stick caps.
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Two Project Leonardo controllers can be used in combination for single player input or in combination with DualSense.
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Enlarged view showing part of the AUX port used for external control devices.
Sony’s announcement comes more than four years after the launch of Microsoft’s own Adaptive Controller. It features a very different design with two large circular black buttons. Despite that long lag, Sony says Project Leonardo is still “currently in development” and has yet to announce a potential release date or price.
Still, the promise of a future official PS5 accessibility controller is welcome news for many players. . [and] Being left out of consoles due to my disability is a bit irritating and, honestly, totally unacceptable in 2022.
