Next Xbox could have a biometric controller

(Image: US Patent Office)

The controller for the next Xbox might be able to take biometric readings of your hand, according to a recent Microsoft patent. It describes a device that strongly resembles the current Xbox 360 controller, but also comes equipped with pressure sensors capable of identifying individuals or even reading their emotions.

Gamers could login to their console simply by picking up the controller, thanks to a pressure-sensitive surface that reads the size of their hand and the strength of their grip then creates an identifying "pressure profile signature". That means you could pass the controller to a friend and the console will realise that a new user has taken over. Microsoft's Kinect sensor can already sign in users based on their body shape, but this new controller would let non-Kinect owners do the same.

(Image: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

The pressure-sensitive surface could also have an impact on the actual games. The patent gives the example of a car racing game in which the controller's sensitivity adjusts based on the strength of the players grip. Nervous players may grip tighter, causing the controls to become more sensitive and their driving more erratic, a common characteristic of nervous drivers.

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, have previously modified existing Xbox controls to create similar effects.