Sony's Project Morpheus, its next-gen VR headset.
(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)
Sony has unveiled its own virtual-reality PlayStation 4 headset, and it's tentatively called Project Morpheus.
In a gaming landscape where the Oculus Rift
has inspired many to wonder what's next, Sony aims to capture a bit of
that magic for itself with its own brand of immersive headwear. It's not
the first Sony headset: in fact, it's had nongaming models for years.
This, however, is Sony's entry to VR gaming in the way that we've come
to imagine since Oculus Rift. And unlike the Oculus, Project Morpheus
looks like it's PS4-only.
Project Morpheus, as it was unveiled at the Game Developers
Conference panel in San Francisco tonight, is smaller than Sony's
existing HMZ line of headsets. The design looks more like a final
product than the still-in-prototype Oculus Rift, with glowing blue LEDs
and a Tron-like vibe. But that doesn't indicate how good it actually
feels, comparatively speaking. The first demos of Project Morpheus will
be given tomorrow morning, so we'll know more then.
According to
Richard Marks from Sony R&D, the plans for Project Morpheus reach
beyond gaming, to promised partnerships with NASA and uses for immersive
science. Similar far-reaching uses have been discussed for Oculus Rift,
and in fact for most VR technologies.
(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)
How do you control yourself while using Project
Morpheus? Well, with the controllers that Sony already has: the
PlayStation Eye, DualShock 4 controller, and Move. The Move, according
to Marks, is already a very good VR controller. It actually could be,
based on its accuracy and fine-tuned level of tracking.
The
Project Morpheus dev kit Sony is currently using has a 1080p display and
a "90-plus degree" field of view. It boasts position and rotation head
tracking, three-meter working volume, 360 degrees of movement, and the
ability to use DualShock 4 and Move controllers simultaneously. But, for
now, Project Morpheus is hard-wired: wireless capabilities, at this
point, don't seem to be on the table.
Sony
already has some developers on-board and working on experiences with
Project Morpheus, including heavy hitters like Crytek and Epic. That's
good news, and exactly what Sony will need to make its VR gaming
technology succeed.
Some of the demos being shown at GDC include
Eve Valkyrie -- one of Oculus Rift's killer apps -- as well as the
recent Square Enix game Thief, and immersive experiences that look like
they involve castles and sharks.
(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)
But these experiences will need to be pretty amazing to
be worth the upsell that Morpheus would inevitably be in addition to
owning a PlayStation 4. Despite the efforts of many game developers,
motion-controlled gaming via Kinect and Move never really took off like
Sony and Microsoft imagined. Can VR be different? Sony's latest attempt
will have its work cut out for it.
Stay tuned -- hands-on impressions will be added tomorrow, as soon as CNET can get behind those goggles.
CY:CNET
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