Sony is looking to the Oculus Rift for inspiration and is developing a virtual reality headset for PlayStation 4. Sony believes that virtual reality can revolutionize gaming. Say hello to the Project Morpheus prototype.
Sony follows in footsteps of Oculus
Sony has already launched three so-called 3D Viewers that can be mounted to the head, but Project Morpheus is an entirely different technology. Like the Oculus Rift it tracks your head movement and draws you into a virtual world.
Sony says that you have to experience it to believe it. It is like being present in another world. One of Sony’s internal demos is a project developed in collaboration with NASA that takes the player on a virtual journey to Mars, but Sony also has game developers working on games. Studios include Epic Games, Crytek, Autodesk, Unity and more, and at the moment the Thief and EVE Valkyrie gamers are playable in VR.
Sony has developed the technology for at least three year. Sony has not only worked on hardware, but has done research into how games can be created in the virtual dimension. The actual prototype uses a 5-inch LCD display with 1080p resolution (960x1080 for each eye) and a 90-degree field of view.
The prototype can track head movement in 360 degrees and works with the PlayStation Move and Camera. It has to be connected to PS4 with a HDMI and USB cable. Sony says that they have achieved very low latency, a high frame rate, and great picture quality - and immersive sound with a vertical plane. Combined with other factors, these are some of the elements that are required to maintain a feeling of presence in a virtual world, believes Sony. Oculus and Valve have identified similar factors as essential on their VR prototypes.
- ”VR has been a dream of many gamers since the computer was invented. Many of us at PlayStation have dreamed of VR and what it could mean to the gaming community.” said Shuhei Yoshida from Sony at the presentation.
Sony’s Project Morpheus is a major new development from Sony and it joins Oculus Rift in a very promising virtual reality market. Valve - the company behind Steam - is also working on VR products and a platform, and Microsoft is said to be working on Project Fortaleza for Xbox One. Read FlatpanelsHD’s in-depth Oculus Rift review here.
Project Morpheus is Sony's Virtual Reality for PS4
