Sony rumoured to be developing VR headset for PS4 *spawn

Status
Not open for further replies.
That's sounding... very much invested already. They are clearly jumping two feet straight in... or maybe even head first.

To the point where I'm surprised they didn't announce it. I guess nothing was there to announce it with at the time, but TGS may be different?

Excellent find, that looks like the most concrete evidence yet to have a news item from Gamasutra. Seems like a lot more of the developing community are in touch with this than I would've thought, good to keep them in the loop.

At the very least, they seem to be planning well in advance like for PS4 itself, so that's a good sign. What may come of this... that is much more vague. Hope to see it at TGS very much.
 
Sounds cool. I guess that almost guarantees that it comes with Eye, if true. Maybe that's why they figured they didn't need to bundle it with the console. VR is a big enough proposition in itself to drive adoption of Eye. Makes me wonder if the Move controller will make a comeback, but that starts to sound pretty expensive when you have the HMD, Eye and the motion controllers. I imagine the headset itself will be $250-400, including Eye.

I'm very curious to see how they'll connect it: wired to console, wired to controller, wireless. The last two options probably add some latency, which isn't good, especially if the video feed is compressed and has to be decompressed at the headset. The first option will be inconvenient in the living room. I sort of imagined VR being a better fit sitting at a desk, but you need to give Eye a little bit of room to see you or you lose that bit of body tracking you can have. It's good to have Eye tied in for the experience. Running an HDMI cable across the living room just doesn't make sense, especially when the console only has 1 HDMI output. I'd have to place my bet on wireless. I don't know if the wireless controller has enough bandwidth to support a video stream.
 

Haha, I got a kick out of this part. :)

At present, the working prototype for the headset, which select developers currently have in house, looks much like Oculus' better-known VR system - with ping pong balls attached.

Yes, I realize that it's just prototype and not final. :) But still an amusing image. I'm going to guess it'll feature one or two light bars (instead of ping pong balls) similar to the DS4 in the final hardware.

Regards,
SB
 
That's actually a good idea. One of the problems with Rift is that it doesn't track your absolute position, so while you can look around a virtual cockpit, you can't lean forward to see the instruments better. People have taken to printing patterns they can paste to the front that can be tracked by a webcam to offer that kind of function. Between Sony's experience with move and head mounted displays they seem well in position to deliver a best in class VR device for gaming.

But they should totally make the final version give you glowy red eyes like a Helghast.
 
LOL, I'm a minimalist...The red glow might be distracting in a dark room.

This might be their killer app. I'm so excited with regard to this, if they can push the price down. I know it won't be perfect, but we got be to push these things out if we want further advances in this area.
 
That's actually a good idea. One of the problems with Rift is that it doesn't track your absolute position, so while you can look around a virtual cockpit, you can't lean forward to see the instruments better. People have taken to printing patterns they can paste to the front that can be tracked by a webcam to offer that kind of function. Between Sony's experience with move and head mounted displays they seem well in position to deliver a best in class VR device for gaming.

But they should totally make the final version give you glowy red eyes like a Helghast.

There are also systems that mount multiple cameras in your living room. Believe Sony has a patent on one of the possible designs.

Somehow I doubt users want to walk around too much while playing a game. They may try it at the beginning and prefer to lie/sit down and play in the long run (Use a controller or mind control). :devilish:


Me think if they are serious about this, they should roll out a version earlier (without PSEye) first. Then add PSEye support later for select games.

EDIT: I wonder if it's possible to use a series of small discs/dots instead of a ping pong ball for absolute position tracking.

EDIT 2:
I think that so few people actually used the full 7 that the PS3 supported that they deemed there was no point in supporting more than 4.

But they haven't said anything about other device support e.g. tablets, mobiles etc.

They probably want to reserve some BT bandwidth for...
Does that mean we can have up to 4 VR sets ? :runaway:
 
LOL, I'm a minimalist...The red glow might be distracting in a dark room.

Your head will be inside of the VR helmet. You won't be able to see it at all! As long as no ISA troopers stumble into your house while you play, you should be fine.

There are also systems that mount multiple cameras in your living room. Believe Sony has a patent on one of the possible designs.

Somehow I doubt users want to walk around too much while playing a game. They may try it at the beginning and prefer to lie/sit down and play in the long run (Use a controller or mind control). :devilish:

We're pretty far from a walking around version, but one of the things that make people motion sick when they use an Oculus is that it doesn't properly react to simple motions like leaning forward and backward. Solving that problem, even if the main activity is still sitting on a couch with a controller in your hand will go a long way towards viability.
 
i love how everyone already knows what the rift is yet there are no specs for the consumer kit. There is nothing here that john carmack hasn't already been talking about since quakecon 2012....................
 
Your head will be inside of the VR helmet. You won't be able to see it at all! As long as no ISA troopers stumble into your house while you play, you should be fine.



We're pretty far from a walking around version, but one of the things that make people motion sick when they use an Oculus is that it doesn't properly react to simple motions like leaning forward and backward. Solving that problem, even if the main activity is still sitting on a couch with a controller in your hand will go a long way towards viability.

I've been pretty vaguely positive on Oculus Rift all along. But I was shocked by how quickly "PS4 VR" was overshadowed out of the news cycle by "150 mhz Xbox CPU clock bump" (a relatively minor thing if you think about it).

I dont know what that says, but it makes me wonder about the fundamental appeal of head mounted VR.

It's one of those things I imagine you have to try. I've been thinking about it more in light of this announcement. It probably does have pretty big hurdles.

I imagined a RPG, the feeling of coming across a new, lets say snowy, area to explore, wearing a HMD must be awesome.

But then you realize that's very little of RPG's, most of them are game drudgery. You will be in that bold new area and return to it many times for many hours, all newness will wear off. At that point wont it be easier to play without a weight on your head?

Not least it's going to have to be I'd guess, oh, at least a $299 add on, right? You cant bundle this with your system or it will weigh the system price down like a Kinect X10.

Just some random thoughts I guess. There are hurdles, but also potential. I just dont know if Sony is the company to recognize that as they tend to very scattered in their support imo (basically, look how they handled Move)
 
These VR setups do have a lot of hurdles to overcome. I think basic input will be a serious problem for lots of traditional game types. Since you can't actually see your hands it's easy to get shifted off the correct keys when using a keyboard/mouse. Old school look and movement controls also come into conflict to some degree with the inputs coming from the VR helmet. Lots of experimentation will be required to replace traditional paradigms.

I've heard lots of speculation that Oculus and similar devices will probably work best as games are designed for them, not as people try to adapt existing games to them. I have heard a lot of people talk about wanting to use the Rift for simple first person exploration games. Like Skyrim without combat, just the joy of discovering a new, foreign landscape. Skyrim was already mostly successful as a wandering game. Or you could imagine things like Proteus or Gone Home in VR where it's about being fully immersed, rather than farming XP for long stretches.
 
The real beauty of VR is the gameplay enhancement. In an RPG, you can look around as fast as you can in real life, and you can stop and hear the audio exactly where you are standing (it needs binaural audio!). The end result is true immersion. In a shooter, you can check behind you every now and then with a quick turn of the head, unlike the slow rotations of a DS interface. You can peak around a corner with just one eye. In a plane game you can look around in the midst of a dogfight. The experience will be fundamentally different, unlike every other variation such as 3D TV, which just adds a layer of depth and not immersion.

It's something I'd certainly like to try. It could be a game changer, which is why people are raving about Oculus Rift - it is an intrinsically different experience, putting you in the game as opposed to outside looking in through a window.
 
These VR setups do have a lot of hurdles to overcome. I think basic input will be a serious problem for lots of traditional game types. Since you can't actually see your hands it's easy to get shifted off the correct keys when using a keyboard/mouse. Old school look and movement controls also come into conflict to some degree with the inputs coming from the VR helmet. Lots of experimentation will be required to replace traditional paradigms.

I've heard lots of speculation that Oculus and similar devices will probably work best as games are designed for them, not as people try to adapt existing games to them. I have heard a lot of people talk about wanting to use the Rift for simple first person exploration games. Like Skyrim without combat, just the joy of discovering a new, foreign landscape. Skyrim was already mostly successful as a wandering game. Or you could imagine things like Proteus or Gone Home in VR where it's about being fully immersed, rather than farming XP for long stretches.

I guess the biggest problem of VR is motion sickness and people vomiting after a view minutes of playing :)
 
VR could be quite interesting with NPR.
When will the first LSD "experience" be released on VR/Oculus ? ^^
 
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-09-04-inside-new-ps4-vr-headset

The headset (which is not tied to the company's existing Wearable HDTV Personal 3D Viewer, pictured above) uses the PS4's PlayStation Eye camera, like Move did, for head tracking. This, say people who have used it, makes the headset even more accurate than the Oculus Rift - though it does present some aesthetic challenges.

While there have been reports that the system will make its debut at this year's Tokyo Game Show, those appear inaccurate. Sony does not wish to distract buyers in the days leading up to the PS4's launch - and, as yet, there are not enough games that can showcase the technology.
 
These VR setups do have a lot of hurdles to overcome. I think basic input will be a serious problem for lots of traditional game types. Since you can't actually see your hands it's easy to get shifted off the correct keys when using a keyboard/mouse. Old school look and movement controls also come into conflict to some degree with the inputs coming from the VR helmet. Lots of experimentation will be required to replace traditional paradigms.

I've heard lots of speculation that Oculus and similar devices will probably work best as games are designed for them, not as people try to adapt existing games to them. I have heard a lot of people talk about wanting to use the Rift for simple first person exploration games. Like Skyrim without combat, just the joy of discovering a new, foreign landscape. Skyrim was already mostly successful as a wandering game. Or you could imagine things like Proteus or Gone Home in VR where it's about being fully immersed, rather than farming XP for long stretches.

I played through Uncharted 3, GT5, KZ3, ICO, SOTC and many other games using HMZ-T2, it's difficult at first because you can't see your hands, but after an hour or so, you just adjust. The difficult bit is finding the DS3, once you put the HMZ on. I normally put the DS3 on my lap before putting on the HMZ. I think a camera would help. Using Move controller with Sharpshooter also work well in KZ3 and Resistance3. Arcade stick with VF5, SSF4 and the like also no problem while wearing the HMZ.

Child of Eden + Move + HMZ is awesome. Flowers is pretty good too. I really like Flight games with HMZ. I'm really tempted to get the Rift Devkit. But I think I'll wait till HD version comes out.

I will be getting HMZ-T3, and whatever this PS4 VR will become and Rift consumer version too. VR is really why I play game in the first place. I can't believe it, its finally going to be here come next year. Can't wait.
 
I've been pretty vaguely positive on Oculus Rift all along. But I was shocked by how quickly "PS4 VR" was overshadowed out of the news cycle by "150 mhz Xbox CPU clock bump" (a relatively minor thing if you think about it).

It is very minor. But this close to launch there are enough people desperate for any straw to cling to, that any positive news for the xbone will be paraded around. This time last launch it would have been the Sony camp doing the same thing!

I dont know what that says, but it makes me wonder about the fundamental appeal of head mounted VR.

It's one of those things I imagine you have to try. I've been thinking about it more in light of this announcement. It probably does have pretty big hurdles.

I imagined a RPG, the feeling of coming across a new, lets say snowy, area to explore, wearing a HMD must be awesome.

But then you realize that's very little of RPG's, most of them are game drudgery. You will be in that bold new area and return to it many times for many hours, all newness will wear off. At that point wont it be easier to play without a weight on your head?

Not least it's going to have to be I'd guess, oh, at least a $299 add on, right? You cant bundle this with your system or it will weigh the system price down like a Kinect X10.

Just some random thoughts I guess. There are hurdles, but also potential. I just dont know if Sony is the company to recognize that as they tend to very scattered in their support imo (basically, look how they handled Move)

I have played with lots of VR kit over the years and, I must admit, I've never been that impressed. I remember the virtuality kit, it looked all space age and and all. But the sick bucket next to the platform kind of ruined the experience!!

My favourite experience was with a force feedback body suit in the VR labs at uni. It used a crude system of mini airbags to provide tactile feedback across your body. It felt so weird touching a square tree only to feel it push back..

I always of the mind afterwards that any VR experience wouldn't be complete without the tactile feedback. But I don't think anyone would want to spend an hour getting into a sweat suit just to play a game! Perhaps if there were low profile gloves, something for your torso and maybe little air jets that blew on your face then perhaps the experience would be immersive enough to out-way the discomfort of the kit you're wearing.
 
I played through Uncharted 3, GT5, KZ3, ICO, SOTC and many other games using HMZ-T2,

What did the "Nathan-has-been-drugged" seen feel like in UC3? Made me feel slightly queasy just playing it on a normal TV.
 
I always of the mind afterwards that any VR experience wouldn't be complete without the tactile feedback.
It depends on the experience. An aircraft pilot simulation would be nigh perfect with a control stick as input. Likewise a racing game with a wheel. An FPS with the controls mapped to a dual-stick controller may be confusing - would have to try it. A motion based game like an RPG with hand tracking would feel odd with the sword passing through enemies, but if it mapped 1:1 and you had suitable justification, it shouldn't be too confusing. It's only if the visuals don't match the tactile experience that there'll be problems. If the game has the sword impact on the shield and stop, but the player feels their arm passing through the enemy, that'll break the immersion. As long as VR games stick to limited game inputs and don't try to recreate life, a headset and suitable motion tracking should be perfect.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top