Sony last year showed off some early works on its VR headset – Sony Morpheus at Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco which impressed the industry asking more from the Japanese tech giant. This GDC, Sony has a tentative date as to when consumers can have an experience of the device. Morpheus will be available in the first half of 2016.
The headset works in tandem with Sony’s PlayStation 4 console and camera by covering users’ vision and simulating virtual worlds on screen.
The new Morpheus prototype features a number of improvements over the original version that Sony demonstrated at last year’s GDC. The screen has been upgraded to a 5.7 inch 1920 x 1080 OLED display, and a 100 degree field of view, and nine LEDs for positional tracking. Sony says that Morpheus will support graphics that output at 120 frames per second.
“A year ago, we were here at GDC to unveil Project Morpheus,” explained World Wide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida. “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. For the last year we all have seen the VR world explode. More people than ever have tried VR at a variety of events and this increased consumer exposure to VR has been very important.” He explained how Sony has spent the past year tweaking its dev kit based on consumer and developer feedback. “We want to deliver a VR experience that lives up to our vision,” he explained.
While no hoopla was made for a year since its first look was unveiled last year, the VR scene has now exploded with numerous big names entering the fray. Newer platforms like Samsung’s mobile-powered Gear VR, which it built in partnership with Oculus, as well as the recently unveiled Vive headset, an HTC-built device powered by Valve’s Steam VR platform. Companies like Dolby too have entered the world of VR, with Oculus announcing new ventures like VR movies for its already popular headset.