On the one-year anniversary of unveiling its virtual reality headset, Sony confirmed that the release window for its revised Project Morpheus has been set as the first half of 2016.
Alongside the announcement, the Japanese giant unveiled a new prototype model that is reportedly much closer to what Sony wants with the final, consumer-ready build. Morpheus 2.0 now sports an OLED display running at 1920 x RGB x 1080, which minimises motion blur. Latency has also been addressed thanks to the device’s new-fangled 120 hz refresh rate, creating a 5.7 inch display that allows for a 100 degree field of view.
According to Sony, these refinements were a direct result of community feedback, with Shuhei Yoshida, President of World Wide Studios, stating that:
“A year ago, we were hear at GDC to unveil Project Morpheus. And for the last year we all have seen the VR world explode. More people than ever have tried VR at a variety of events… this increased consumer exposure to VR has been very important. We are one step closer to realizing our vision of making virtual reality a reality in games”.
“These demos are just the beginning,” Yoshida added. “The enthusiasm from developers for this new medium reminds me of the early days of game development.”
A lot has changed in the last 365 days, though: companies such as Samsung, along with HTC and Valve have entered the rejuvenated VR market, while Dolby and Lytro have also expressed an interest in the field. Subsequently, Project Morpheus — if that is to be its name at launch — will come up against significant competition when it does make its way to market next year, particularly in the form of Facebook’s Oculus Rift, which arguably jumpstarted this trend in the first place.
No word on pricing for Project Morpheus at this time, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
