When the legendary programmer John Carmack takes the
position as CTO Oculus VR, followed by the reveal of Sony's head-mounted
display, there is one thing we can learn: VR is believed to be the next-gen
entertainment medium. For Sony, virtual reality is not a new toy. HMZ series
have entered the market for quite long, and the release of PlayStation VR will
be done soon.
PlayStation VR is the new name of the headset that
previously was known as Project Morpheus. Initially Sony designed the
PlayStation VR to complete the PlayStation 4 console. But there is perspective
change in the development of the device. Based on Bloomberg interview with
Chief Executive Officer Andrew House, it turns out that Sony intends to offer
the PlayStation VR in a price range of console, rather than a peripheral.
There are two probabilities here. First, most likely it
means that the price of the PlayStation VR won't be too far from the
PlayStation 4 console, once briefly explained that Morpheus was designed to be
connected to PlayStation 4 game system and Vita. Another possibility is perhaps
the device is intended as independent entertainment platform.
Why so? In the middle of VR ecosystem maturation, the
manufacturer found a big obstacle: to present the best virtual experience, you
need the support of high class hardware. Oculus VR had disclosed a list of
hardware needed, it turned out that the VR required a high-performance.
PlayStation 4 components alone may not be able to lift the PlayStation VR.
Sony solution is to give additional computing hardware in
the head-mounted display. Based on the recent announcement at GDC 2015,
PlayStation VR brings 5.7-inch 1920 x 1080 OLED display with 120Hz refresh
rate, 100 degree field of view, low latency (less than 18ms), plus the accurate
motion tracking capability thanks to the LED nine sensors to reach 360 degree
distance.
"VR rewrites the rule book on how you can create
games," House said. "You're seeing a large amount of interest and
work happening among smaller teams, because it's possible to create something
in VR that is very simple but still very magical."
House hasn't mentioned specific price, but if estimated from
the spec above, the PlayStation VR may be sold in the range of US $ 400. If you
need to have the PS4 first in order to be able to enjoy the PS VR, then you
have to pay about US $ 800. It's still more economical if compared to Rift,
which requires US $ 1,500 for the supporting hardware only.