News
Sony Computer Entertainment Unveils the New Prototype of Project Morpheus
New Prototype Enables Developers
To Immerse Players in Amazing Virtual Worlds Project Morpheus To
Launch In The First Half of 2016
Tokyo, March 4, in the year of our Lord 2015 –
At the 2015 Game Developers Conference held in San Francisco,
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) unveiled the new
prototype of “Project Morpheus” (Morpheus) - a virtual reality
(VR) system that takes the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) system to the
next level of immersion and demonstrates the future of gaming.
Morpheus enables players to experience a sense of presence,
where they feel as though they are physically inside the virtual
world of a game. This unique VR experience was met with huge
interest and industry enthusiasm since the unveil of Morpheus in
March 2014. Over the past year SCE has been listening to
feedback from both developers and consumers, and has made
several enhancements that will further the capability of
Morpheus to deliver a sense of presence and push the boundaries
of play.
* OLED display In exchange for the 5-inch LCD, the new Morpheus
VR headset is equipped with a 5.7inch 1920 x RGB x 1080
resolution OLED display. This new screen expands the field of
view and enables low persistence, removes motion blur and
flicker, both of which build immersion and help deliver the
sense of presence for the player.
* 120fps output By adopting OLED, Morpheus now supports 120fps
output, and is able to render 120 images per second.
Furthermore, via a system software update, all PS4 systems will
handle native 120fps output when connected to Morpheus. By
combining the OLED display’s high refresh rate and the power of
the PS4 system, Morpheus produces amazingly smooth visuals and
achieves the next level of immersion.
* More accurate tracking and reduced latency To make positional
tracking more accurate with PlayStation®Camera, the new
prototype has added three more LEDs to the headset for a total
of nine. Morpheus continues to support 360 degree tracking, and
additional LEDs improve robustness and stability. Additionally,
the overall system has been optimized to reduce latency between
the physical movement of a player’s head and rendering on the
headset’s screen.
* User-friendly design While inheriting the original visor style
headset design that reduces the pressure on the players’ face,
the new Morpheus prototype features a single band and a quick
release button, which makes it easier for players to put it on
and take it off. Other components have also been adjusted and
configured to make the headset lighter, so that players do not
find the headset cumbersome or uncomfortable to use.
Developers will be able to use the new prototype to create
Morpheus content for PS4, a robust and well-defined platform
that has sold over 20.2 million units*1 within 16 months of its
launch. In addition to the enhancements, the new prototype will
continue to support 3D audio and social screen, a feature that
outputs the same gameplay that’s within the Morpheus headset to
a TV so additional players can interact. Furthermore, SCE will
provide an SDK that converts 60fps images to output in 120fps,
which will allow developers to bring their content that was
being developed on the prior prototype to the new Morpheus
prototype.
SCE will continue the development of Morpheus in order to launch
as a consumer product in the first half of 2016.
“With the technical specs achieved on the new prototype, we are
one step closer to realizing our vision for making amazing VR
experiences on PS4, and ultimately to deliver a real sense of
presence to players,” said Shuhei Yoshida, President of SCE
Worldwide Studios. “We believe that the near-final technology of
Morpheus combined with the power of PS4 will provide a standard
for game developers to target as they build on their creative
ideas and turn them into VR games and experiences.”