an accessibility kit for people with disabilities

It wasn’t just the PlayStation VR 2 that was at the heart of the topics at Sony Interactive Entertainment’s press conference at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, accessibility too. The Japanese manufacturer has indeed unveiled Project Leonardo, a new device to be connected to PS5 in order to allow people with disabilities to be able to play video games correctly. Sony is therefore following Microsoft’s lead several years after the release of the Xbox Adaptive Controller (September 2018), in order to continue to be more and more inclusive. The device has also been developed in close collaboration with the community, accessibility experts, but also game developers. The first visuals reveal a circular object where we find a whole bunch of buttons that it is obviously possible to customize, by changing the location but also the shape and size. Of course, players will be able to remap the keys and even integrate two functions on the same key, knowing that it will also be possible to save user profiles.

Project Leonardo can be used alone or paired with another Project Leonardo device, or a DualSense controller. It’s also designed to be compatible with other third-party devices through its four 3.5mm AUX ports. This allows users to integrate specialized switches, buttons or analog sticks into the Project Leonardo controller. External accessories can be connected or disconnected dynamically, and each can be configured to act like any other button. This way, a friend or family member can then help the disabled player control the player character with a DualSense controller or a second Project Leonardo controller. Again, controllers can be dynamically enabled or disabled and used in any combination. Sony Interactive Entertainment explained that the device is still under development and the designers continue to gather valuable feedback from the community.