SAN FRANCISCO – Sony plans on putting its
virtual-reality headset on consumers’ noggins
next year.
The gaming and electronics company
announced Tuesday at the Game Developers
Conference that its VR system nicknamed
Project Morpheus will debut in the first half
of 2016.
Sony Corp. originally unveiled a prototype of
the headset at last year’s gathering of video
game developers. The headset works in
tandem with Sony’s PlayStation 4 console
and camera by covering users’ vision and
simulating virtual worlds on screen.
Sony flaunted an updated version of the VR
headset prototype at Tuesday’s event. While
it largely resembles the prototype introduced
last year, the new version redistributes
weight toward the back of the user’s head
and features a screen that can slide back
and forth to accommodate eyeglasses.
The new prototype also features a larger
5.7-inch OLED screen that displays nearly a
100-degree field of view and is capable of
rendering imagery at up to 120 frames per
second. There are nine LED lights on the
headset’s exterior that are to track
movement.
No price was announced.
“Our goal with VR is to deliver a sense of
presence, making the player feel as though
they’ve stepped inside the world of a game,”
said Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony
Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios.
“The new Project Morpheus prototype brings
us closer to that goal, as it improves the
visual experience and tracking accuracy,
both of which are critical to achieving sense
of presence.”
The company showed off the new prototype
at Tuesday’s event with four technical
demonstrations, including a game that
utilized a pair of PlayStation Move
controllers to simulate a shootout inside a
lavish building in London and a more passive
presentation that featured tiny robots
responding to users’ movements.
Sony is among several gaming and
electronics companies working to bring VR
into homes. HTC and Valve announced plans
Sunday to release its Vive VR system to
consumers later this year, while Oculus VR
has yet to reveal when its Oculus Rift
headset will be available to consumers.
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