What was the PlayStation Vita’s distinctive rear control surface called?

The PlayStation Vita’s distinctive rear control surface was called the rear touch pad.

The Vita featured a five-inch OLED touchscreen on its front in the original model and a multitouch pad on the back. Developers could use the rear surface for gestures, extra control inputs, or interactions that did not obscure the front display.

Sony released the PlayStation Vita in Japan on December 17, 2011, with launches in North America and Europe in February 2012. The handheld also included two analog sticks, motion sensors, cameras, and support for physical game cards and digital downloads.

The rear touch pad is not the same as a rear touchscreen: it detected touch input without displaying images. The later Vita 2000 model changed the front display to LCD while retaining the handheld’s characteristic rear touch controls.