Representatives from Sony confirmed at their GDC 2015 media event that owners of company’s VR headset dev kit, Project Morpheus, will be receiving an upgrade to the new and improved 2015 prototype, a device that has made a big impression with us at this year’s GDC in San Francisco.
Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment, revealed in a Sony press event at GDC 2015 that Morpheus’s release date will come by the second quarter of 2016, which on its own is welcome news for VR fans just waiting for consumer-level VR. But if you’re a developer of the PS4 VR headset, the news keeps getting better: Sony told Road to VR that those developers would receive an upgrade to the Morpheus 2015 prototype which the company called “near final.” There’s no word on when the upgrade will be shipped out.
The Japanese gaming giant has been showing the device periodically ever since its unveiling at GDC 2014, but has remained tight-lipped on any of the specifics surrounding hardware upgrades for the VR headset up until now. As Oculus readily demoed improved prototypes, including ‘Crystal Cove’ (pre-DK2) and ‘Crescent Bay‘ (the current public headset prototype), devs were left wondering when Sony would offer a glimpse of progress from the 2014 Morpheus prototype.
The updated device is sporting a 5.7-inch OLED 1920×1080 RGB display with 120Hz refresh rate and improved optics with 100 degree FOV. The new Morpheus prototype also has 9 total tracking LEDs for improved headtracking, three more than the 2014 prototype.
Unlike Oculus, Sony has not made their VR headset dev kit publicly available for purchase, instead choosing to approve developers on a case-by-case basis.
Our own Ben Lang, Executive Editor at Road to VR, had a chance to try on the device, and because he’s sitting right next to me, I’ll just ask him: “How was it?”
“It was improved across the board from the 2014 prototype. The new demos showed polished interactivity that will make any gamer smile,” replied Ben Lang as he furiously typed away on another article from GDC 2015.
See Also: Anyone Who Says ‘You Can’t Do VR on Console’ Hasn’t Tried Sony’s 2015 Morpheus Prototype
Road to VR is here in San Francisco until the end of GDC covering all things VR, so check back for more hands-on encounters with new VR peripherals, headsets, and anything else we can get our hands on.