Sony has revealed Project Leonardo, a new accessibility controller for the PlayStation 5.
Announced at CES, the controller has been designed with contributions from accessibility experts and organisations like AbleGamers, SpecialEffect and Stack Up.
The controller is highly customisable, comprising a circle of various large buttons and a control stick. You can hear more about its development in the video below.
As well as hardware customisation, with players able to amend the control layout and analogue stick positioning, the controller will support software customisation so players can remap buttons and create control profiles on the console.
The controller will also work alongside the existing DualSense controller and other Project Leonardo controllers for a single setup or to play collaboratively with others.
Furthermore, the controller lies flat so can be used on any surface or wheelchair tray, or secured to mounts, and can be oriented 360 degrees to suit the player.
Alongside accessibility options in the likes of The Last of Us Part 1 and God of War Ragnarök, Project Leonardo is the accessibility hardware that disabled gamers have been asking for.
“Project Leonardo is part of the PS5 product family and is based on the same design concept,” said Sony Interactive Entertainment designer So Morimoto.
“We were inspired by the idea of all players enjoying the world of PlayStation together. Our team tested over a dozen designs with accessibility experts, looking for approaches that would help address key challenges to effective controller use. We finally settled on a ‘split controller’ design that allows near free-form left/right thumbstick repositionability, can be used without needing to be held, and features very flexible button and stick cap swapping.