PS4 to get virtual reality with new Sony ‘Project Morpheus’ headset

New VR device set to launch in the first half of 2016

Andrew Griffin
Wednesday 04 March 2015 07:34 EST
Comments
A player tries out the earlier version of Project Morpheus
A player tries out the earlier version of Project Morpheus (AP)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sony unveiled a new virtual reality headset today, set to bring the technology to the PlayStation 4 in less than two years.

The company announced initial plans for the headset last year, saying that it had been three years in development. The look of the new headset isn’t much changed from that one, but it now has a rough release date of early 2016 and a new screen with more immersive graphics.

The new screen has a latency, a measure of how quickly images are sent to the screen, of 18 seconds, reports Ars Technica. Screens with latency of less than 20 seconds can’t be differentiated from real life, according to Sony executives.

The headset knows where it in space using nine built-in LEDs. The front can flip up so that users can come back to the real world — indicating that Sony could be planning for users to be able to jump in and out of virtual reality while playing the PlayStation 4, whenever they want.

An earlier version of the Project Morpheus headset
An earlier version of the Project Morpheus headset

The link with the PlayStation could help the still unusual technology catch on, and help the company market the technology to a sceptical public.

That could help it battle with the increasingly busy market for virtual reality headsets. Oculus Rift, the company most closely associated with such headsets, is said to be revealing its consumer model soon and HTC and Nvidia recently unveiled new headsets.

But Sony sees virtual reality as a potential new opening in its console gaming business. Virtual reality gaming is one of the company’s highest priorities for the coming years, Jim Ryan, the president and CEO of PlayStation, told The Independent last year.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in