Project Morpheus VR headset hands-on at the Sony Summer Showcase

This year’s E3 saw a bunch more titles added to the Project Morpheus roster and now it seems like the release date for this Sony VR headset is just around the corner – the first quarter of 2016, apparently. At the recent PlayStation Summer Showcase in London, I was given the chance to n00B it up on some of these titles. Sony …

[Necronomnomnomicon]

I'm still trying to get my head around how Sony are doing this

Given the intensely beefy PC specs that Oculus Rift requires, and the limited view window on Microsoft's HoloLens, how are Sony producing this Rift-like setup on the limited hardware of the PS4?

Are they running a much lower quality image than the Rift? Oculus seemed to think that anything less than what they're offering is going to either look terrible or cause horrific nausea. Are Sony going for that anyway? Or are they running everything off insanely-specced development PCs, meaning that the average PS4 gamer won't see anything this good? Or have they got some magic sauce that nobody else has figured out?

The only other thing I can think of is that all the hardware is in the headset, but that's got to mean it'd cost more than a PS4 by itself.

Don't know if our correspondent has had a go on the other products to offer a comparison?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I'm still trying to get my head around how Sony are doing this

Sony are in a much better position to reduce latency and to do hardware specific optimisations because they are targeting one rather powerful hardware platform and one single purpose operating system.

[kyza]

Re: I'm still trying to get my head around how Sony are doing this

There's considerable difference in the setup.

OR (and the Vive for that matter) is 2x1440p OLEDs, refreshing at 90hz and 90FPS per screen - hence the need for a beefy PC.

Morpheus is a single 1080p OLED refreshing at 120hz, with software FPS either set to 60 or 120FPS using asynchronous reprojection (TimeWarp in OR speak) to get 60FPS to an apparent 120. This is not the same as the frame interpolation you get on your TV which introduces latency. The single screen is split by software into showing 2x960x1080 screens.

Sony are getting around the SDE (screen door effect) by manufacturing OLED panels with a higher fill density in the centre of the screen, where your eyes will spend most of their time.

Image quality is AA, CA and the rest of the graphics package and is driven by software design, not hardware. The Heist has ligfhting and texture work at least as good as a PS3 running at 1080p native res. This is also before taking into account the massive leap that VR's immersion brings to the table and the fact that graphcis tech that works for a 2D screen (for example, shaders) either don't work or aren't required for VR where things like good lighting, decent AA solutions and above everything else a locked, rock solid framerate.

You're also overstating ORs case - they've licensed their rendering tech to Samsung for the GearVR series running on mobile - and a PS4 is comfortably more powerful than that.

Finally - there is no extra rendering hardware in the headset - again, adding this would incur a latency penalty, and the prime sources of non-vestibular disconnect nausea in VR are low framerate and poor tracking latency - neither of which the Morpheus or PS4 has an issue with.

[Sir Runcible Spoon]

Sir

Isn't it about time we got a sand-box game that was both land and space based (and good)?

I want Megatraveller Elite Redemption GTA VI, and I want it in VR. (Please)

[Corborg]

Re: Sir

Does No Mans Sky tick your boxes?

[Sir Runcible Spoon]

Re: Sir

It does, I had a look at a trailer yesterday and it shows some promise.

Something like that with Rockstar level production would be most welcome :)

I also had a look at Limit Theory and Ascent.

[Raumkraut]

Re: Sir

I miss Hazeron.

EDIT: Holy crap, Hazeron came back!

[Crisp]

Hans Solo....

Obviously Han Solo's German brother.

[Anime9000]

I want those interactive Anime games where I can rip and or tear some anime chicks clothes off and get the good or bad endings! Ive got money and ready to buy this in a heartbeat.

(im drooling over here) heh heh heh....., you have your Star Wars/GTA war solider fetishes, I have mine Anime interactive dating)