Original post at
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/...p=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1
By NICK WINGFIELD
March 19, 2014
Sony is joining the chase for virtual reality, one of the most elusive dreams of the technology industry.
At a conference for game developers here Tuesday evening, Sony showed a sleek, white prototype of a headset that is the result of an effort it has code-named Project Morpheus.
The headset will give players a high-definition, 3-D view of games that envelops most of their field of vision, along with motion-tracking technology that allows players to pan their view around with the movement of their heads. The headset will connect to Sony’s PlayStation 4 game console.
“It’s something which we believe will push the video-game industry forward,” Shuhei Yoshida, president of worldwide studios at Sony Computer Entertainment, said at the event.
The idea behind Project Morpheus, and similar efforts underway at smaller game companies, is to immerse players more fully in games using with giant television screens that give them the illusion that they are actually in the virtual worlds they see. Technologists have tried to deliver convincing virtual reality experiences for decades, but the technology has been clunky.
There is widespread hope in the games business that virtual reality may finally be ready. Many of the critical components inside the latest generation of virtual reality hardware, including high-resolution displays and motion-tracking sensors, are now in abundant supply because of mobile phones, from which they are derived.
Much of the buzz around virtual reality in the games business right now is because of a start-up, Oculus VR, that has designed a headset that has pushed the technology forward.
The company, which funded the development of its first prototypes through a Kickstarter campaign, added credibility to its efforts when it raised more than $75 million in financing from Andreessen Horowitz and other venture capitalists late last year.
The company has sold more than 60,000 of a version of its headset for developers. Oculus VR has not said when it will ship a final version of its product for the public and how much it will cost. Sony withheld similar details about its own virtual-reality product.
Mr. Yoshida said that Sony was “inspired and encouraged” to do its own virtual reality project after the enthusiastic response to the efforts of Oculus VR and Valve, another game company working on the technology.
“I have enormous respect for them,” he said.
Sony did not show a demonstration of its headset during the event, but planned to this week at the developer conference. It said one demonstration would give the wearer of the headset the perspective of an underwater diver in a shark cage, while another demonstration would allow them to swing a sword around inside a castle.
Richard Marks, who works in research and development at Sony, said he hoped virtual reality would provide a source of creative inspiration for the games business.
“This is like the wild, wild west,” said Dr. Marks. “There are no rules. This is a once-in-a-career kind of situation.”
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/...p=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1
By NICK WINGFIELD
March 19, 2014
Sony is joining the chase for virtual reality, one of the most elusive dreams of the technology industry.
At a conference for game developers here Tuesday evening, Sony showed a sleek, white prototype of a headset that is the result of an effort it has code-named Project Morpheus.
The headset will give players a high-definition, 3-D view of games that envelops most of their field of vision, along with motion-tracking technology that allows players to pan their view around with the movement of their heads. The headset will connect to Sony’s PlayStation 4 game console.
“It’s something which we believe will push the video-game industry forward,” Shuhei Yoshida, president of worldwide studios at Sony Computer Entertainment, said at the event.
The idea behind Project Morpheus, and similar efforts underway at smaller game companies, is to immerse players more fully in games using with giant television screens that give them the illusion that they are actually in the virtual worlds they see. Technologists have tried to deliver convincing virtual reality experiences for decades, but the technology has been clunky.
There is widespread hope in the games business that virtual reality may finally be ready. Many of the critical components inside the latest generation of virtual reality hardware, including high-resolution displays and motion-tracking sensors, are now in abundant supply because of mobile phones, from which they are derived.
Much of the buzz around virtual reality in the games business right now is because of a start-up, Oculus VR, that has designed a headset that has pushed the technology forward.
The company, which funded the development of its first prototypes through a Kickstarter campaign, added credibility to its efforts when it raised more than $75 million in financing from Andreessen Horowitz and other venture capitalists late last year.
The company has sold more than 60,000 of a version of its headset for developers. Oculus VR has not said when it will ship a final version of its product for the public and how much it will cost. Sony withheld similar details about its own virtual-reality product.
Mr. Yoshida said that Sony was “inspired and encouraged” to do its own virtual reality project after the enthusiastic response to the efforts of Oculus VR and Valve, another game company working on the technology.
“I have enormous respect for them,” he said.
Sony did not show a demonstration of its headset during the event, but planned to this week at the developer conference. It said one demonstration would give the wearer of the headset the perspective of an underwater diver in a shark cage, while another demonstration would allow them to swing a sword around inside a castle.
Richard Marks, who works in research and development at Sony, said he hoped virtual reality would provide a source of creative inspiration for the games business.
“This is like the wild, wild west,” said Dr. Marks. “There are no rules. This is a once-in-a-career kind of situation.”
