21 replies to this topic

[ctrlaltdel]

http://blog.us.plays...oject-morpheus/

Project Morpheus, SCE’s prototype virtual reality (VR) system that works with PS4. Virtual reality is the next innovation from SCE that we believe will shape the future of games.

[GraphicX]

there were rumors of this on n4g the other day, to me this stuff is just still a gimmick as per the wii nunchuck, kinnect & ps eye/dildo.

[straussy240]

mmmm another cool product, but it will more than likely cost and be the cause of more problems imo. Especially in its first iteration

In the end I think while this may be a gimmick a lot of game developers will push for more immersion in their own content. In addition, I think its more suited for PC than conoles

[GasClown]

[Axe99]

It looks pretty interesting - my interest is piqued, as it's very easy to add support for this kind of thing into flight games (War Thunder is already looking to support Oculus, and Eve Valkyrie looks the goods).  That said, I have reservations about VR for longer play sessions, and cost could well be an issue.  There has been a lot of excitement about VR (mainly about Oculus so far, as they're far more open with their development than Sony) and what it could do, so I suspect it might be a longer-term play than the motion controller gimmick phase, but I also think it's more of a niche thing.  That said, if they get it working with flight and space games, it might be my niche (the idea of this and Star Citizen has me a little giddy) .

[Axe99]

This is a half-decent interview and a vid of people playing it.  The more I'm hearing/seeing about this, the more interested I am, it looks pretty immersive.  I still don't think it's how you'd necessarily play Skyrim or Uncharted, but it has potential for some very cool new experiences.

[spectre51]

This was shown at the SCEJA conference.

Vid link taken down

[Axe99]

Cheers for the vid Spec  .  That's a very 'Japanese' Morpheus Tech demo .

[spectre51]

GDC 2015 – Project Morpheus Update

The latest news from GDC

Hello from GDC 2015! About a year ago, we unveiled a prototype for Project Morpheus, the virtual reality (VR) system for PlayStation 4. Since then, we’ve been hard at work making the system even better. I’m pleased to return to GDC with an update on our progress, bringing us one step closer to its consumer release. We believe VR will shape the future of games, and I can’t wait for you to try Project Morpheus when it launches in the first half of 2016.

Our goal with VR is to deliver a sense of presence, making the player feel as though they’ve stepped inside the world of a game. The new Project Morpheus prototype brings us closer to that goal, as it improves the visual experience and tracking accuracy, both of which are critical to achieving sense of presence.

Key changes:

• OLED display – In exchange for the 5 inch LCD, the new Morpheus VR headset is equipped with a 5.7 inch 1920 X RGB X 1080 resolution OLED display. This new screen expands the field of view and enables low persistence, removing motion blur.
  
• 120hz refresh rate – The previous refresh rate spec has been doubled for this new prototype, which means games for Morpheus can be rendered at 120fps. When combined with the OLED display’s high refresh rate and the power of PS4, Morpheus is able to output amazingly smooth visuals.
  
• Super low latency – We know how critical low latency is to delivering a great VR experience, and we’ve reduced latency to less than 18ms, about half of what the first Morpheus prototype had. Low latency is critical to deliver a sense of presence, at the same time making the VR experience comfortable to players.
  
• More accurate tracking- To make positional tracking more precise, we’ve added three LEDs to the headset – one on the front and two on the side – for a total of nine LEDs to support robust 360 degree tracking.
  
• User-friendly design – We’ve made the Morpheus VR headset easier to put on and take off, with a single band design and quick release button. The headband supports the weight of the unit on the top of your head, so there is no pressure on your face. 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.

Revealing this new prototype is an important step in our journey to release Project Morpheus, but there is more to come. We’ll share additional details at E3 and beyond. In particular, we’ll show more VR games at E3 and later events as we get closer to launch.

A new dimension of gaming is almost here, and PlayStation again is at the forefront with Project Morpheus.

Source: PlayStation Blog

[GraphicX]

this'd be no accident being released now with the HTC/Steam unit coming toward the end of this year.  hopefully though this sony one will be better priced.

[GasClown]

GraphicX, on 04 March 2015 - 05:58 AM, said:

this'd be no accident being released now with the HTC/Steam unit coming toward the end of this year.  hopefully though this sony one will be better priced.

Morpheus isn't releasing until 2016 as far as I know. I wonder if it'll work on the PC as well. It'd be a bit silly to get one just for PS4... I'd prefer to get one for PC if it ends up that way - at least the PC will have a longer life span. With that said, I wonder how the VR games work cross-platform (meaning Oculus (and whatever other headsets are releasing)) and whether games need to be done (optimised) differently for every device to get the best out of them? I honestly don't want to be buying multiple devices.

Also because the Morpheus is 120Hz (which sounds great) - good luck in achieving 120FPS when the PS4 can hardly reach 60FPS on most titles.

Ps. Now I'm starting to sound like a true PC elitist wanker - but in all honesty, I didn't mean it that way.

[GraphicX]

i wouldn't stress about the lifespan of the ps4 if the past consoles are anything to judge by (how old was the ps2 when they only stopped making games something like last year ??).

& yeah, i thought the same about the refresh rate & resolution as it'd take the same effort at the small screen size as it's the resolution that takes the horsepower.  usually though, 120hz is more for 3D with shutter glasses isn't it ?  basically giving an effective 60fps.

[GasClown]

GraphicX, on 04 March 2015 - 07:26 AM, said:

usually though, 120hz is more for 3D with shutter glasses isn't it ?

No - 120Hz, 144Hz gaming is even smoother (apparently)... yes the former is for 3d as well as it's split but it's still better for gaming (without the 3d) if you've got the horsepower to pull 120/144+ FPS. I personally haven't tried that high frame rate myself, my Dell monitor is only 60Hz so it's capped.

They've intentionally gone the higher Hz because of the smoothness (not because of 3d).

[GraphicX]

i wonder if it's 120hz like the refresh rates for motionflow, where fake intermediate frames are generated to reduce smearing ?  if that's the case it doesn't matter what frame rate the ps4 outputs as it'll always just upsample it.

[GasClown]

GraphicX, on 04 March 2015 - 08:13 AM, said:

i wonder if it's 120hz like the refresh rates for motionflow, where fake intermediate frames are generated to reduce smearing ?  if that's the case it doesn't matter what frame rate the ps4 outputs as it'll always just upsample it.

Here's a good article on it...

http://www.eurogamer...roject-morpheus

[GraphicX]

from the article:

Quote

midway between rendering each native image, the PS4 interpolates an intermediate frame

so yeah, it's basically motionflow, the thing you usually turn off for gaming haha.

[Axe99]

Great to see this making progress - I reckon I'll deffo grab it, if just for Eve: Valkyrie and War Thunder (although hopefully we also see it used for some other flight/space games).  Cheers for the info all .  Great to see the Move making a comeback, and that Sony are using existing tech rather than making new add ons (we're already moved up here, so no need to get new controllers for Morpheus ).

[Axe99]

Lots of new stuff for Morpheus out of this E3.  I'll try and find a few of the vids and post 'em up here in the next few days, but this was on the PS Blog, and looks like fun in a silly, quirky way .

[CallFire]

My negative side still doesn't see a real draw to it and is concerned at the lack of real draw card gaming experiences been shown.

My obsessive purchaser side plans to buy it anyway

[Axe99]

Oh aye, it's definitely niche, or at least will be initially.  I've seen a lot of promising stuff on the PS Blog though, and Rigs looks amazing (although I doubt it's something I'd play for more than five minutes, a tad fast for me).  I'll try and find another couple of examples.  Hang on.....

My personal favourite that isn't a flight game (the reason I'll likely grab it) so far...



Something a bit random...



Because clearly the 60s and 70s weren't psychedelic enough...



Here's the RIGS trailer - a bit commercial for me - I could do without the faces of the players in the trailer, but I think they're just trying to work out how to market VR in a non-VR environment....



This one has registered on my curiousity radar.  No idea how it'll work out, but looks potentially interesting...



The thing that gets me is the broad-based enthusiasm for it.  Seems more than for other recent 'fads' (Kinect/Move/Wii/Wii U and the like), with more enthusiasm from sources that seem more likely to be genuine (obviously, not possible to judge Sony's enthusiasm for their own product at face value!)