Sony Release More Details & Specifications For Project Morpheus

Sony recently announced their entry to the world of virtual reality gaming and much like the current fan favourite, the Oculus Rift, the Sony Project Morpheus looks set to change how we game. The virtual reality (VR) system is built from the ground up to work with the PlayStation 4 and marks Sony’s ideals for next-gen immersion. SCE will continue development of Morpheus looking towards a future commercial launch.

“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.”

Morpheus enables developers to create experiences that deliver a sense of presence – where players feel as though they are physically inside the virtual world of a game. Presence is like a window into another world that heightens the emotions gamers experience as they play. Morpheus features a visor style head-mounted display and works seamlessly with PlayStation Camera to deliver a unique VR experience right before the player’s eyes. Inertial sensors built into the head mount unit and PlayStation Camera accurately track head orientation and movement so as the player’s head rotates, the image of the virtual world rotates naturally and intuitively in real-time. Furthermore, in supporting games, the player can use a PlayStation Move Motion Controller as an object, such as a sword. Morpheus will reproduce the player’s hands and sword within the game so the player feels like they are physically fighting off enemies with their sword in the virtual world.

Morpheus adopts 3D audio technology uniquely developed by SCE, there are other 3D audio technologies out there, but I doubt Sony wanted to fork out extra for the patents. In addition to sounds coming from front, behind, left and right, Morpheus re-creates stereoscopic sounds heard from below and above the players, such as footsteps climbing up stairs below them, or engine noises of helicopters flying overhead. Sounds that players hear change in real-time depending on their head orientation, creating a highly realistic audio environment within an immersive 360-degree virtual world.

Developers will be able to create Morpheus content for PS4, a platform which has sold over 6 million units only after 3 months and a half of its launch, and is continuing to show strong momentum. The Morpheus dedicated SDK is currently under development and will become available when ready. Attendees at GDC were able to enjoy an exclusive technology demo of EVE Valkyrie, a multiplayer dogfighting shooter that uses virtual reality to give the player the sense of being a real pilot in an EVE Online spaceship, Thief, which allows players to explore the dark shadowy world of the stealth action title, “The Castle” that shows various VR interactions utilizing PS Move, and “The Deep”, where players can observe the waters from inside a shark proof cage.

Specifications

• Component Processor unit, head-mounted unit
• Display Method LCD
• Panel Size 5 inches
• Panel Resolution 1920×RGB×1080 (960×RGB×1080 per eye)
• Field of View 90 degrees
• Sensors Accelerometer, Gyroscope
• Connection interface HDMI + USB
• Function 3D audio, Social Screen

*Specifications and designs are those of the prototype and are subject to change.

The VR world is about to get very busy as many top manufacturers start to fight it out on the wearable tech battle field. Will it be a fad and die out? Who knows, but one thing we do know is that it’s going to be really cool to try all this technology out.

Thank you Sony for providing us with this information.