Sony reveals Project Morpheus, a VR headset for PlayStation 4
By Kevin Mitchell
Posted on March 19, 2014
Sony and Shu Yoshida has announced at GDC 2014, that they are in development of their own virtual reality system for the PlayStation called ‘Project Morpheus’. The visor style head-mounted display works seamlessly with the existing PlayStation Camera. The Camera itself has been in short supply since shortly after the North American launch of the PS4, with retailers marking up prices. As the user rotates his/her head, the image in the game will also move following the same movements in real-time.
“At SCE we view innovation as an opportunity to build on our mission to push the boundaries of play,” said Shuhei Yoshida, President of SCE Worldwide Studios. “Project Morpheus is the latest example of innovation from SCE, and we’re looking forward to its continued development and the games that will be created as development kits get into the hands of content creators.”
Using a PlayStation Move Motion Controller, you’ll be able to transform it into a virtual object, such as a sword to fully immerse yourself in the experience. This was the original concept behind the Motion Camera when it was released for the PS3 with the PlayStation Eye, but outside of Sorcery there weren’t many games that utilized it well. The DualShock 4 can also be used, and it will be up to the developer on how their games are going to utilize each piece of hardware.
Audio will also play a big role in Project Morpheus, with proprietary audio technology being developed to not only allow sounds to be heard in 360 degrees, but also from above and below. The example giving in the press release mentions hearing footsteps climbing up stairs from below or engine noises from helicopters flying overhead.
Sony is currently in development of dedicated SDK for developers, but doesn’t give any time frame on when they will be ready. Here’s hoping that we will see games that use Project Morpheus during the E3 press conference.
