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Rumors about Sony's virtual reality headset have been in the air for several months. And finally, the Japanese corporation presented to the public its vision of the future of this technology. Meet the Morpheus Virtual Reality Headset.
This headset was designed specifically for the Sony PlayStation 4 game console, and was presented to the public by the head of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida. He said that Sony has been developing this headset for four years, and research in the field of virtual reality began even earlier.
Yoshida showed photos of the first prototype headsets that used Playstation Move controllers with luminous spheres attached to a virtual reality helmet to track player head movements with a camera.
Shuhei also showed his own photos, in which he tested later versions of the device at the end of 2010 and in March of 2011. It is evident that the Japanese company seriously reacted to the design of the headset, and he was constantly changing for the better.
“The industry is constantly evolving, providing gamers with more and more new technological improvements. People are not always ready for these improvements, and many of them do not even realize that it is possible to implement it at all. The PlayStation platform expands the boundaries of familiar video games, and we are constantly working to create a new innovative experience for players. Virtual reality is the next innovation for PlayStation users, which will determine the future of video games, ”Shukhey Yoshida shared with journalists.
Yoshida showed the public Sony's early work in virtual reality research. Among other things, they showed on the screen an excerpt of the game God of War 3 (2010), where the game world was visible from the first person, and if you lower your eyes down, you could see the body of the Spartan Kratos, the main character of the series, instead of his body.
After that, the public was finally shown the current prototype of the headset, codenamed Morpheus. The name of this, according to Yoshida, has nothing to do with the movie "The Matrix", but refers to the name of the god Morpheus, who commanded the world of dreams. The headset is still under active development, and its design and functionality may change over time.
“We believe that Morpheus will significantly enhance the experience of the PlayStation 4 console by integrating with the PlayStation Camera and PlayStation Move controllers. We are actively working to improve the existing prototype and presented it to the public at GDC-2014 specifically to hear feedback from the developers of video games and listen to them. ”
It was decided to abandon the luminous spheres fixed on the headset, since it looked very ridiculous from the outside. Therefore, to track the position of the head in space, the PlayStation 4 console camera will be used. Sony has focused on the fact that while the Morpheus headset will only support their gaming console. Support for personal computers is not planned.
Richard Marx, head of research at Sony, told reporters how he and NASA developed an application that allows a person who has put on a headset to be on the surface of Mars and travel around the red planet. Richard explained that virtual reality does not have to be limited to video games only. For the new headset will come out a wide variety of applications, including those through which you can take a tour to various parts of our or any other planet.
Marx explained that when developing the headset, Sony focused on six fundamental points: the visual component, sound, motion tracking, game management, ease of use, and the development of content suitable for the headset. Sony’s expertise in creating optics (cameras, cameras, cell phones with integrated cameras, etc.) allowed engineers to succeed significantly during the development of Morpheus. After all, when it comes to virtual reality - the visual component is particularly relevant.
A five-inch built-in 1080p LCD screen in RGB format will allow you to display 960 by 1080 pixels on each user's eye. The viewing angle in this case will be equal to 90 degrees, and the frequency of display on the display - 1000 hertz. The headset has a high-precision gyroscope and accelerometer, which, together with the PlayStation Camera, will allow you to quickly and accurately track any head movements. You can turn your head and body 360 degrees in any direction - the system will accurately convey your movements to virtual reality. Moreover, the software component includes a “prediction system”, which very accurately predicts in which direction you want to make a movement and eliminates any kind of delay in displaying this event on the built-in screen.
The games would have been faded without sound, so Sony introduced a specially developed 3D sound system that would be supported by the Morpheus headset. You can connect any wired or wireless headphones with surround sound to the headset. The system emulates 60 virtual speakers located around the player, and when you rotate your head, the sound will also move depending on its position. You can hear the steps behind your back or a helicopter flying over your head, which will add a lot of new emotions to the game.
While the user will play with the help of Morpheus, the other players will be able to see the image from the helmet on the TV screen, but it will be complete, and not as in the case of the Oculus Rift, when the screen displays two separate pictures for both eyes. It is possible that the developers will add support for asynchronous gameplay, when one person can play using a virtual reality headset, and the second one will play at the same time using the TV screen, while interacting with the first player in the game.
Headset, judging by the statements of engineers Sony, is fully customizable for each individual user. It is very convenient, the head and neck do not get tired of its long use, and the high frame rate and image clarity do not exert any serious strain on the eyes. This headset prototype uses a five-meter wire to connect to the game console, but Sony is working to get rid of any wires in the future.
Starting today, all visitors to the GDC-2014 conference will be able to get acquainted with the headset personally. For this purpose, specially developed demo versions of games such as EVE Valkyrie and Thief, as well as special programs The Deep and The Castle, in which the user can sink to the ocean floor and wave with a medieval sword using the Move controller. Move controllers, by the way, are perfect for you to feel your real hands in the virtual world.
SDK for creating projects under the headset Morpheus will be available to developers in the very near future. Sony's domestic studios are already hard at work developing new software for traveling to virtual worlds, as well as sharpening existing game projects for use with a headset. Numerous third-party developers have joined their own Sony studios, the list of which was demonstrated by the audience. Neither the price nor the date of Morpheus’s entry into the market have been announced, but according to Shuheya Yoshida, they will try to do it as quickly as possible.
The article is based on materials .
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