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Sony's PlayStation 4 VR headset launching in the 'first half of 2016'
Sony's PlayStation 4-powered virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus, has new specs and a slightly different look (seen above). Okay, it doesn't look that different. What's new? For one, the screen resolution is improved: it's now 1,920 x RGB x 1,080. The refresh rate is doubled from last year at 120Hz, and the new 5.7-inch screen also has a higher field of view (nearly 100 degrees). Oh right! It's got a new, bigger screen at 5.7 inches! But you already guessed that. Further upping the specs is lower latency, now under 18 milliseconds. Most importantly, the unit will launch at retail in "the first half of 2016." That's... kinda soon? Almost?
PlayStation is now Sony's top priority
Sony's an enormous multinational conglomerate. Some perspective on just how big it is: Sony's ranked 105 on the Fortune Global 500 (for 2014), has its hands in everything from chemical manufacturing to financial services to Hollywood films and employs over 140,000 people. Of that number, just 8,000 people make up Sony Computer Entertainment -- what's better known as the PlayStation brand. And that small group of people is now largely responsible for the near future of the mothership. In short, Sony's leaning on its PlayStation arm to buoy the whole company's financials for the next several years. No pressure! What does that feel like from inside Sony HQ in Japan? I asked SCE Worldwide Studios head (and video game character) Shuhei "Shu" Yoshida this past weekend at the PlayStation Experience in Las Vegas.
You can try Sony's VR headset at the 'PlayStation Experience'
Tickets for Sony's PlayStation Experience in December go on sale today, but aside from a few coy teases, what you'll do there hasn't been clear. Well, now that's changing. For starters, Project Morpheus -- the catch-up king's VR headset -- is making its consumer show debut (as opposed to, say, appearing at E3). As far as games go, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, The Order: 1866 and Bloodborne are making appearances too. And what would PlayStation be without indies? The Journey and Grim Fandango remasters for PS4, Helldivers, The Witness will be there, and something "super special" is planed for No Man's Sky come the show's Saturday night. There's too much to list here, and more still to come apparently, so head over to the PlayStation Blog for the full line-up that'll be in Las Vegas a little over a month from now. [Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
The fun and weird moments of Tokyo Game Show 2014
The annual Tokyo Game Show has just wrapped up, and while there weren't any major console announcements, we still had our fair share of memorable moments on the show floor. On top of trying several different virtual reality demos, we also watched Japanese girls giggle away at a romance simulation booth, and we even bumped into Japanese porn stars without realizing who they were at the time. Check out our list of TGS highlights in the gallery below.
'Summer Lesson' is the questionable Project Morpheus VR title from the 'Tekken' team
Teasing its forthcoming appearance at the Tokyo Game Show later this month, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan revealed a new demo for its prototype VR hardware -- with assistance from the creative forces behind the Tekken fighter series. You should probably put all ideas of a first-person punch-em-up aside though, this is very different. Summer Lesson puts the user inside a typical Japanese schoolgirl's room, where it looks like you just seem to.. chill, interact and hang around, which sounds innocent enough, although there's certainly a creepy element there just by the premise. The teaser didn't explain much else, although the Tekken team's Harada-san was happy to praise the interactivity element of the demo, and the preview video also added some comments about how it felt like someone was really there. We're expecting to feel suitably embarrassed and awkward when we get to test it out at TGS 2014 in a few weeks -- but we're also hoping to get a better grasp of why the team decided to go with something that could easily be so misconstrued for a very conspicuous, very early Project Morpheus showcase. Take a look for yourself: we've posted the entire SCEJ PlayStation press event after the break, and even thoughtfully skipped to the Summer Lesson part, because we're nice like that.
Getting sweaty with the future of Sony's virtual reality
The private room, elevated above the crazed throngs of E3 attendees, was dark and oppressively stuffy. Inside, Conan O'Brien lay on a beanbag in front of Sony's newest virtual reality demo for its Project Morpheus headset: Street Luge. And he was surrounded by two Nintendo booth babes -- an awkward collision of rival gaming worlds that wasn't lost on Sony PR. Conan was finishing up a shoot for a spoof segment on Morpheus and I had to wait for the celebrity fanfare to stop.
Sony built the PlayStation 4's controller with VR in mind
You may think that Sony built its Project Morpheus virtual reality headset to accommodate the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller, but it turns out that the opposite is true -- the gamepad was designed for VR from the start. The company's Jed Ashforth tells TechRadar that the Morpheus team insisted on building the always-on (and occasionally irksome) light bar into the DualShock for its purposes, and had to remain silent about its real objectives until the VR helmet's unveiling this March. The move isn't completely surprising given Sony's tendency to use PlayStations as technology launching pads -- see the PS3's Blu-ray drive as an example. Still, it's good to know that the controller was designed for much, much more than motion-based experiences like The Playroom.
Hyperrealistic virtual reality adventure Loading Human headed to Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus
As the medium of virtual reality progresses, its applications only get more incredible. Take Untold Games' Loading Human, for instance. It takes Unreal Engine 4 and infuses it with the tropes of the adventure game genre, only instead of pointing and clicking, you're in that world. Solving puzzles and exploring narrative are at the heart of Loading Human, and it shows in the eerily realistic gameplay clip the studio's released. The game's intended for Oculus Rift, naturally, and Sony's Project Morpheus headset as well.
PlayStation 4 indie devs are already using Project Morpheus
Becoming an independent PlayStation 4 developer is easy, Sony's Adam Boyes tells us: "You just have to sign up." The PlayStation VP of publisher and developer relations was explaining what the company has done to woo indie devs. Half the job was just making developer programs more accessible. "Before GDC last year we didn't even have a website where you could go and find out about it, but now we have a very well thought out process." Boyes says that anyone who qualifies as an independent developer can get a free (loaner) developer kit, too -- a similar deal applies to Project Morpheus.
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida loves that Facebook bought Oculus, says it helps validate PlayStation's efforts
"I woke up that morning and saw the announcement," Shuhei Yoshida tells us, remembering the day Facebook acquired Oculus VR. "And I was like, yeah!" Yoshida laughs and thrusts his arms in the air like an excited child. "For me, it was a validation for VR." As head of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios, virtual reality (and Sony's Project Morpheus) has become important to Yoshida. He wants to see it, as a medium, succeed.
Watch Sony explain Project Morpheus and its VR plans for PlayStation
Virtual reality is (quite suddenly) a big deal. Sony introduced its Project Morpheus prototype headset for the PS4 at GDC, just days ago, and now the company has uploaded the hour-long presentation, including its development, awkward prototypes, the criteria it's eventually aiming for and some early demos. It's almost like you were there -- which is entirely the point of VR.
Exploring virtual reality on PlayStation 4 with Shuhei Yoshida and Richard Marks (video)
It was 2010 when Sony engineers first explored virtual reality concepts. The idea of a VR headset sprang from another project at the company: PlayStation Move, a wand-like motion controller for the PlayStation 3. Company engineers attached the controller to head-mounted displays, enabling a form of homemade VR via motion and depth tracking. Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida was asked to try these early prototypes, one which put the player into the role of Kratos in God of War 3 and the other a mod of Half-Life 2 where you could lift up and look at your own gun. "That was a totally compelling experience, so I became a believer," Yoshida told us in an interview this week, post-Project Morpheus announcement. "It was a 'wow' moment!"
Using the PlayStation 4's virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus (update: now with video!)
The cat's out of the bag and... uh, on our head? Okay, we can do better than that, but what we're trying to say is that we just used Sony's new PlayStation 4 virtual reality headset: Project Morpheus. You already know the specs and all that good stuff; we're here to tell you what it's like using the still-in-prototype-form virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4. Good news: It's pretty great! Surprise! Join us below for a closer look.
Sony's early VR headset prototypes looked pretty silly
Head-mounted display, movement sensors.... done. Sony Computer Entertainment's Shuhei Yoshida says that the company's been working on its Project Morpheus VR hardware for over three years and it's fair to say it's come a long way: the early model above features three Move controller modules, attached in what could be described as the Mickey Mouse formation. It's somehow cute, but also hilarious.The luminous pearl-finish headset revealed on stage is apparently still nowhere near complete, although SCE appear to have taken on board some of the design cues of Sony's existing head-mounted display series. There's more pictures after the break, with Yoshida himself channelling some Star Gladiator vibes with two different prototypes.
'Project Morpheus' is Sony's virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4
The rumors are true: Sony's working on virtual reality. The hardware is called "Project Morpheus" and it's headed to the PlayStation 4. The headset is two pieces: a closed display and what looks like a PlayStation Move sensor built in. SCE Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida unveiled it on-stage tonight at GDC 2014; he said the "prototype" is "by no means final." It's the culmination of over three years of work, Yoshida said, and the prototype unveiled tonight will also double as a dev kit. As seen above, a subtle PlayStation-themed blue light is emitted by Morpheus. A single wire can be seen exiting the unit on-stage; apparently carrying both an HDMI and USB connection. Sony's clearly drinking the VR Kool-Aid: there's serious talk about "presence" on-stage (the term Valve coined as the target for "true VR"). What are the specs in the headset? It's got a 1080p display and just over a 90-degree field of view. There's positional head tracking, a 3-meter working volume with full 360-degree tracking that works with the PlayStation Camera, and games can recognize the PS Move controller as a virtual object. In terms of audio, the device has "true spatial sound" using binaural audio -- pretty neat! It's also apparently "highly adjustable" and supports custom headphones if you'd prefer your own audio choice (it plugs right into the headset). Head below for more!
Morpheus lander crashes, burns and explodes in untethered flight test, NASA remains optimistic (video)
As noisy as we found Project Morpheus' tethered flight test, its untethered follow-up was far, far louder. Yesterday, the experimental lander suffered a hardware component failure, which NASA says "prevented it from maintaining stable flight." This caused it to crash into the ground and well, explode. On the upside, the space agency says that these kinds of failures were anticipated, stating that they are a normal part of the development process and will be used to build better systems moving forward. You didn't think Curiosity made its touchdown on Mars without learning from a few mistakes, did you? Click onwards to check out the test -- and its aftermath -- in 5, 4, 3, 2, er...
NASA's Morpheus lander detects hazards, noisily passes tethered flight test (video)
While it's not landing on Mars any time soon, NASA took a breather from Curiosity's adventures to showcase the Morpheus Lander. The prototype went through its first (tethered) flight test at the Kennedy Space Center just before the weekend, showcasing its methane-powered rocket system. It's this rocket setup which could make the Morpheus Lander a strong candidate for future landings. It's both safer than rocket fuel and NASA suggests that methane gas discarded from the International Space Station could be enough to top up the lander's fuel tanks without necessitating a visit back to Earth. Morpheus' built-in guidance system also reduces the amount of input needed from mission control -- the pod has been practicing hard on its own hazard field near the Space Center. After passing the test with its training wheels on, the first free flight descent has been tentatively penned in for later today. Crank the volume low -- it gets loud -- and watch Morpheus test those right rockets after the break.
Purdue University grad students give NASA lander tech a boost, do it for the experience
We just learned of NASA's end-of-decade plans to rocket astronauts into deep space for exploratory missions to Mars and beyond. Now, we're getting a peek at the Purdue University-designed lander tech that'll plant our space fleet's feet firmly on terra incognita. What originally started as a senior research project for grad students Thomas Feldman and Andrew Rettenmaier, has now blossomed into a joint research endeavor for the federal space agency's Project Morpheus -- a think tank for trips to heretofore unexplored celestial bodies. The in-development propulsion tech, now undergoing testing at the university's Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, is required to "meet stringent design and performance" standards, but most importantly, needs to lift the fuel-depleted lander post-descent. You'd think scientific work of this magnitude would come with a hefty paycheck, but the student team behind it all's just doing it for the hands-on knowledge. Sure beats your summer internship at that magazine, huh?
