Sony set to release virtual reality headset for the PS4 in battle with Xbox

Young_Chitlin

By MARK PRIGG

Sony is expected to reveal a radical VR headset for its PlayStayion 4 games console next month. The addon would allow people to play games in 3D, and give Sony a major boost in its battle against Microsoft's Xbox One. It would build on TV and movie watching headsets Sony showed off at the CES show in Las Vegas earlier this year.

The announcement will be made at the GDC games developer conference in San Francisco on 17th March, according to TechRadar. 'Rumours of Sony's PS4 virtual reality headset have been running rife since last year, but now an inside source has told TechRadar that they've spent some time with the helmet behind closed doors - and it's almost ready to be revealed' the site said. It said the headset has already been shown off behind closed doors.

'The quality and resolution are really, really good,' one person who has tried it told the site.

'People will definitely be impressed with what Sony's built.'

The headset is likely to compete with the Oculus Rift, an eagerly awaiting VR headset shown off earlier this year at CES. Like Sony produce, it uses two small LCD screens in a headset to fool the brain into thinking it is seeing a 'real' world image. The headset has motion tracking and the display in the screen reacts accordingly as the player moves their head around. The Oculus Rift works by tracking the player’s head movements using sensor technology.

It also uses a new technique called low-latency mitigation that lets the players explore the world as if it was a reality.

Low-latency mitigation minimises the delay between the eyes seeing an image and processing what it sees. This makes the images appear to be happening closer to real time. The Rift's display shows two unique images, one for each eye, that the player’s mind fuses into a single stereoscopic 3D view of the virtual world.

The firm recently raised $75m to make its product mainstream. 'Over the past 16 months, we’ve grown from a startup to a company whose technology is poised to change the way we play, work and communicate,' said Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus VR. '40,000 developers and enthusiasts, as well as a number of great partners, have joined our cause and helped us bring the seemingly impossible to life. 'This additional infusion of capital, as well as the leadership and experience of Marc and Chris, will help us take the final steps toward our ultimate goal: making virtual reality something consumers everywhere can enjoy.'

'We believe Oculus will not only alter the gaming landscape but will redefine fundamental human experiences in areas like film, education, architecture, and design.

'Oculus is at the tip of the iceberg of its potential, and we’re incredibly excited to help them change the world,' said Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz.

The Lonious Monk

As much as I'd love for this ? to take off and be good, I don't see how it could possibly work. I seriously doubt it could be anything of reasonable quality and not cost as much or more than the PS4 itself. There is no way something like that would sell well.

Karl.

The oculus rift seems to be quality. People who use it say it works well.

The only thing is the price. I'm sure they can make a couple of LCD screens and a gyroscope fairly cheap though.

I don't think I'll be buying the early models. ? looks like it would ache your face.

The Lonious Monk

I think the Developer's Kit for the OR is $1700. I can believe that they might be able to cut the price down, but they could slash the price in half twice and it still wouldn't be at a price point that would move a lot of people to buy it.