GDC#2014 Event: Sony Announces 'Project Morpheus:' Virtual Reality Headset For PS4

Tybost

GDC: Sony Reveals VR Headset: Project Morpheus, a VR system for PS4

"What's the significance of Project Morpheus as a name? "We decided on this name last week." It's apparently based on Morpheus, the god of dreams, because the project presents a dreamlike reality. "So it's not a Matrix reference?" "Sure.""

Watch live updates @: http://live.theverge.com/live-sony-playstation-future-of-innovation-gdc-2014/

 

Tybost

"We're using the same kind of technology that we used with PlayStation Move for Morpheus."

"This is a great great time. This is like the wild wild west. There's no rules right now, there's no killer genre that you have to support, this is a once in a career kind of situation."

"Sony says it already has software partners for VR, and here's a big slide with their names. Autodesk and Crytek are on there, Epic Games..." It's happening live @link above if anyone wants to watch it live

"A lot of people leave the audio for last, but it's really important to design audio for VR at the same time. It will really help. It will amplify."

"For a driving game, "having your hands on the steering wheel greatly enhances the sense of presence."

"Plus game designers can make virtual worlds to explore for virtual tourism... you can visit a fantasy world, not just see Mars through the eyes of a NASA rover. Both places are equally valid virtual destinations, he suggests."

"The headset has a 1080p display, 90-degree field of view 15mm eye relief and a "wide IPD range" (the distance between your pupils) to accomodate a wide range of faces, including those who wear glasses."

"Tracking duties are handled by the PlayStation Camera, which polls at 1000Hz (one thousand times every second it's checking your position) and you can turn 360 degrees."

"The current dev kit supports custom headphones, and Anton says it's comfortable too. it places no weight on your nose or cheeks and has an open-air design, so there's airflow and the lenses don't fog up. These have occasionally been issues with our early Rift dev kits."

"Sony has some interesting ideas for asymmetric gameplay with the Morpheus, such that one player can have the headset and be the hero, and then when another player beats them, with a totally different control scheme, they get to take over."

 

 

Mikeha

This has gotten my attention and I look forward to seeing how it works. The reason why this will be the real deal is because Sony already has a powerful system in the PS4 that can produce amazing visuals and they have some of the best game studios like Naughty Dog who can actually make real games. Sorry Oculus Rift but I knew this would happen.

Nitth

Still too big and bulky.

Tybost

Conference has pretty much ended Q&A Below

"Sony's created a bunch of demos it'll be showing off here at GDC... and will also be bringing EVE Valkyrie to the dev kit. Which is interesting, because Oculus announced that it would be an Oculus exclusive."

"There's a special build of Thief from Square Enix, for the Morpheus as well."

 

This all sounds interesting and I somewhat agree it does look a little bulky

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And we're on to Q&A!

"Are you going to create a VR-specific operating system? They're still just working on getting it to work on the PS4."

"A 5-meter wire currently connects the headset, but they're working on freeing it up. They're refusing to answer any questions on final specs or when it's coming out ("as soon as possible, for as low as possible.")"

"Will the hardware work with PC? "Our current focus is on PlayStation." Of course, they're not ruling anything out. "As a technical person, it's possible, but we're not discussing product decisions today.""

"You can also only use a single one per PlayStation."

"Games will be "very intensive graphically," but will the overall quality be reduced in order to render it in three dimensions? "The graphics are so rich because you're immersed. It's a different kind of feeling."

 

"Haptics, eye tracking -- Sony's being asked about all kinds of experimental tech that could end up in the headset. Once again, nothing confirmed, but nothing denied in the long term."

"Could the headset be used to visualize ancient Rome? Yeah, probably. Worth noting that there are already CAD, medical, and military applications for VR, albeit not usually through consumer companies like Sony or Oculus."

 

"What's the significance of Project Morpheus as a name? "We decided on this name last week." It's apparently based on Morpheus, the god of dreams, because the project presents a dreamlike reality. "So it's not a Matrix reference?" "Sure."

 

"Sony is also staying mum on who's actually working on VR games, although once again they're hoping to widely distribute the development kits."

 

"Confirmed: there is not a recommended age range for the Rift. In case you were wondering."

 

"Last question, and it's Sean, asking about whether Sony will be getting your feet in the game (cf. the Omni Virtuix Treadmill.) They're apparently still looking at solutions."

 

"Anton says that he believes some methods work better than others... "personally I think walking around an environment is better than walking in place.""

 

"But you can't walk forever if you're in a living room or other enclosed space."

"It's all over, and we're headed up to ask some more questions about Project Morpheus. We'll be back tomorrow with our own impressions, and hopefully some answers. For now, goodnight."

 

Tybost

Thats it guys! Conference has ended and Project Morpheus is the new VR for the PS4, we will hear more about it tomorrow after a couple of people play the new demos designed for play @GDC (Valkyrie/Thief/etc.) Also no age range for using Morpheus on the PS4, and the Omni Virtuix Treadmill may not have a place in VR?

Project Morpheus is real, a new VR-RIFT has entered the scene: PS4/Sony is going after the VR-Market

Tybost

...And so the VR-WAR has been declared!

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR!!!

 

Seriously.. though this VR thing is pretty crazy and it just excites me all around! It's a great time to be alive and we're pushing into a new generation of gaming excellence. Might have to start picking up a PS4 for this but I'm going to place most if not all my bets on the OCULUS-RIFT to deliver since they seem to bring a whole lot of promise behind them.

 

Anyone else excited for the future of Virtual Reality Headsets? Mmm.....inB4 Oculus is better than Morpheus, and the VR wars begin. Haha.

Mikeha

Oculus Rift wont stand a chance if this works like they are saying it does.

https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/446096506064359424

 

Sony has the studios to bring games like God Of War, Grand Turismo, Infamous, Uncharted and The Last Of Us. Even the one game Oculus had which is Eve Valkarie is coming to PS4 VR.  What else does it have? 

Its now time for me to get a PS4. Was just waiting on something to make me want the system. 

Epicent

@ yes. Bring it on. Havent been this excited since the psone/n64 console wars.

irpugboss

Nice, a little competition means nothing but good things for us consumers

Let the feature and price battle begin!

Epicent

OCULUS RIFTS DEV KIT 2.0 IS ON THE MARKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as of today!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have already said this dev kit would be close to the consumer versions model and that the release wouldnt be far off. Anyone care to speculate? http://www.oculusvr.com/

Tybost

Originally posted by Epicent
OCULUS RIFTS DEV KIT 2.0 IS ON THE MARKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as of today!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have already said this dev kit would be close to the consumer versions model and that the release wouldnt be far off. Anyone care to speculate? http://www.oculusvr.com/

Holy shit- Thanks for the information!

Development Kit 2
$350.00

The Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 is the latest development kit for the Oculus Rift with a low-persistence OLED display and low-latency positional head tracking.

 

It went up $50 >:O b-but man it might be time to snag one! o__O AHHH!

It looks similar to the crystal cove design!

Xiaoki

If Sony has any brains at all one of the first games available for Morpheus will be the PS4 version of Everquest Next.

Mikeha

Originally posted by Xiaoki

If Sony has any brains at all one of the first games available for Morpheus will be the PS4 version of Everquest Next.

 

 

That would be amazing.