Sony built that light bar into the Dualshock 4 for VR tracking

For the moment there's no way to disable the light bar on Sony's Dualshock 4 controller, because -- according to a recent TechRadar interview -- having it always on is a critical component of Sony's Project Morpheus virtual reality initiative. Speaking to TechRadar about the Dualshock 4's light bar, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe senior designer Jed Ashforth explained that "it was our department that said we need that on." "It was for tracking for VR," said Ashforth. "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." Last month Sony released a firmware update for the PlayStation 4 that would allow people to dim the DualShock 4 light bar, but Sony's president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida said that the bar had to remain on for the system to function as intended. "We need to keep it on, even if it's dark, because that's the only way to tell the controller is switched on," Yoshida told Polygon last month. "It's kind of required." Gamasutra has reached out to Sony representatives for confirmation and more information on how the Dualshock 4 plays into Project Morpheus.