Hot on the heels of Valve’s announcement of their Vive virtual reality headset, Sony has stormed the stage at this year’s Game Developers Conference with a brand new version of their Project Morpheus. Like Valve, Sony is ready to vaguely talk about a release date and they confirmed that Project Morpheus will be available in the first half of 2016. Their latest prototype also includes a number of improvements over the previous publicly-displayed version:
- OLED Display: In exchange for the 5-inch LCD, the new Morpheus VR headset is equipped with a 5.7-inch 1920 X RGB X 1080 resolution OLED display. This new screen expands the field of view and enables low persistence, removing motion blur.
- 120hz Refresh Rate: The previous refresh rate spec has been doubled for this new prototype, which means games for Morpheus can be rendered at 120fps. When combined with the OLED display’s high refresh rate and the power of PS4, Morpheus is able to output amazingly smooth visuals.
- Super Low Latency: We know how critical low latency is to delivering a great VR experience, and we’ve reduced latency to less than 18ms, about half of what the first Morpheus prototype had. Low latency is critical to deliver a sense of presence, at the same time making the VR experience comfortable to players.
- More Accurate Tracking: To make positional tracking more precise, we’ve added three LEDs to the headset (one on the front and two on the side) for a total of nine LEDs to support robust 360° tracking.
- User-Friendly Design: We’ve made the Morpheus VR headset easier to put on and take off, with a single band design and quick release button. The headband supports the weight of the unit on the top of your head, so there is no pressure on your face. Other components have also been adjusted and configured to make the headset lighter, so that players do not find the headset cumbersome or uncomfortable to use.
Sony was not ready to discuss a price point for Project Morpheus, but they were all too happy to show off a new tech demo known as “London Heist.” The title couldn’t be more descriptive as the demo drops players into the middle of a heist in the heart of London that quickly devolves into a shootout. Polygon‘s Ben Kuchera was incredibly complimentary about the demo in his preview. Hopefully something like it is development for Project Morpheus’ launch next year.
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
