Sony has filed two patent applications related to a new touchscreen gaming interface – and the company has codenamed one ‘Phil Harrison’.

According to the EETimes:

‘One application shows a handheld touch device that would allow both direct and gesture-based input and which would also provide force feedback across the entire display through a system known as "tactile pixels" – a grid of small bumps would lift to reach the screen and help simulate physical button presses or other effects based on touch input.’

Phil Harrison is listed as both the codename and 'inventor' of the device. The application, which you can find here, reveals potential uses for the invention could include a game device, phones or portable media players.

The other patent notes that while "existing touch screens are configured to receive a mechanical input and provide a visible output," they "are not configured to provide both a visible and a mechanical output".

The device described is not limited to a single screen, and may be used for a variety of applications, including "a gaming device, a phone, a portable media player, an email device, web browser device, or navigation device."

Phil Harrison, former Sony president of worldwide studios, left the company in February.