It turns out that the Playstation 4’s Dualshock 4 controller was originally designed with the virtual reality, Project Morpheus, in mind. However, it does finally explain the main purpose for the light bar–it’s was for tracking for VR.
Right now the light bar’s functionality is limited, for it serves as a tracking beacon for the Playstation Camera and, depending on how many players are playing together, the light bar will designate each player a different color (blue, red, green, pink).
Back in March, during the Game Developers Conference, Sony unveiled the VR helmet Project Morpheus, but before that, the team had to remain silent about the real purpose for the Dualshock 4’s light bar functionality. Even when players began asking questions about it, the team couldn’t say a single word until March.
TechRader spoke to Senior Designer at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Jed Ashforth, saying:
“The tracking light… it was our department that said we need that on,” said Ashforth. “It was for tracking for VR.”
“And when all these things were coming out six months ago and everyone was going ‘it’s reflecting in my TV,’ we were going ‘oh no’ because we couldn’t tell anyone what it was for.”
The Playstation 4 launched back in November 2013 and had sold over seven million units to date and since then, the Dualshock 4’s light bar couldn’t be turned off, only dimmed.
This might frustrate a lot of players, but maybe a turn-off option might come to light when Project Morpheus is finally released to the public.
