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It’s been a month given that we initially heard reports that the Switch 2’s brand-new Joy-Cons might be moved throughout a flat surface area to work like a computer system mouse. Now, a freshly released patent submitted by Nintendo appears to verify that function and explains how it will work.
The worldwide patent was submitted with the World Intellectual Property Organization in January 2023, however it was just released on WIPO’s site on Thursday. The Japanese-language patent– whose illustrations match what we’ve seen of Switch 2 Joy-Con exactly– includes an English abstract explaining “a sensor for mouse operation” that can “detect reflected light from a detected surface, the light changing by moving over the detected surface…” just like any variety of optical computer system mice. Schematic illustrations in the patent demonstrate how the light and light sensing unit are squeezed inside the Joy-Con, with an integrated lens for directing the light to and from each.
A schematic diagram of the Switch 2’s Joy-Con light sensing unit
A schematic diagram of the Switch 2’s Joy-Con light sensing unit
Credit: Nintendo/ WIPO
A device translation of the complete text of the patent explains the controller as “a novel input device that can be used as a mouse and other than a mouse.” In mouse mode, as explained in the patent, the user nestles the external edge of the controller with their palm and positions the inner edge “on, for example, a desk or the like.”
In this setup, the user’s thumb can still access the analog stick (which is now pointing horizontally) while the index and middle fingers are placed so the 2 shoulder buttons “can be operated as, for example, a right-click button and a left-click button,” according to the patent. The patent explains this setup as “easy to hold” or “easy to grip.” It likewise goes to excellent lengths to describe how the shoulder buttons twist around the curved leading corner of the controller and hence are “easy to press” by pressing either down or closer to horizontally with a finger.
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