Patents don’t necessarily always have to give us a look at tech that will materialize for sure, but they do always give us an interesting look at the tech that companies might be looking into and might end up making use of in the future. Microsoft has recently patented some new things (via Windows Central) with Xbox Scarlett and next gen right around the corner, and they definitely qualify as interesting.
For starters, it seems like VR is something Microsoft is definitely interested in, even if we don’t necessarily see them doing something about it in the immediate future. One of their patents is for a VR mat, which comes with is a mat with a boundary that marks the edges of the play area for the player.
A second patent mentions a motion controller that can be held in one hand, which also comes with a thumbstick to allow traditional control input options as well. That same patent also mentions a stylus functioning as an input device in conjunction with the console and its motion controller.
Again, as is the case with any patent, there’s no guarantee that these pieces of tech will ever see the light of day, but at least we know that these are things Microsoft is at the very least looking into. It should be interesting to see what applications they would have, if they do ever result in anything concrete.