Sony has revealed its plans for virtual reality technology on the PlayStation 4. Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, made the announcement at an ongoing Game Developers Conference 2014 event entitled Driving the Future of Innovation. 'Nothing delivers a feeling of immersion better than VR,' said Yoshida. '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.'
'Nothing delivers a feeling of immersion better than VR.'
The VR system is currently codenamed Project Morpheus, and will work with PlayStation 4. While still in prototype form, Yoshida says that Morpheus is the 'culmination of our work over the last three years to realize our vision of VR for games, and to push the boundaries of play.' The headset will integrate with the PlayStation Camera peripheral and the PlayStation Move motion controller.
'VR is going to be pervasive.'Sony Magic Lab's Richard Marks, who pioneered the EyeToy camera and PlayStation Move, joined Yoshida on stage to offer further details on Project Morpheus. 'The thing that makes VR special is really the feeling of being in another place... there's no way to explain it to you that will make sense, but it's that feeling of presence,' he said. 'VR is going to be pervasive, and what I mean by that is it's going to be used for all sorts of things you might not think it would be used for.' As one example, Marks says he's been working on a project with NASA and its Jet Propulsion Lab that will allow PS4 owners to feel like they're right with the space agency on its travels.
Marks has identified six areas that Sony needs to crack in order for VR to work: sight, sound, tracking, control, ease of use, and content. For sight, Marks refers to Sony's considerable weight in optics and imaging technology. For sound, the company is working on binaural tech to aid presence and immersion. For tracking and control, Marks says the PlayStation Camera and PlayStation Move are ready-made solutions. For ease of use, Sony plans to make it a comfortable, plug-and-play experience. And for content, Marks showed a long list of software partners including Epic Games, Crytek, Autodesk, Unity, and more.
Although VR is yet to turn up a viable consumer project, the concept has been gaining momentum ever since Kickstarter-funded startup Oculus VR showed off its first headset, the Rift, in 2012. The company demonstrated a more refined Oculus Rift prototype, codenamed Crystal Cove, earlier this year, with more contenders set to join the fray. Valve is working on similar VR technology of its own, and Microsoft has explored augmented reality glasses, known as Project Fortaleza, that would work with the Xbox One's Kinect sensor.
Sony's announcement today, however, marks the first serious effort from a first-party platform holder, and could prove the most attractive option yet for VR developers. 'We have seen passionate people at Oculus VR and Valve introduce VR prototypes and share their learnings,' said Yoshida. 'I have an enormous amount of respect for them. This shows how all of us as an industry can rally around a new medium like VR to push gaming forward.'
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Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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