Sam Machkovech
Sony announced today that a new generation of PlayStation VR hardware, including a new controller specifically designed for VR, is coming to the PlayStation 5.
The short announcement is very detailed and contains no photos or prototypes of the new headset or controller. But it does mention that the next PlayStation VR will feature a higher resolution and field of view than the original of 2016, which is fixed with a somewhat dated resolution of 1920 x 1080.
In that context, Oculus Quest 2, $ 299, came out with a total resolution of 3664×1600 last year, and it’s a standalone headset with far less horsepower than the PS5. However, Valve’s high-index headset has a 135 ° field of view, which is much wider than the ~ 100 degrees on PSVR (cheaper modern headsets usually have closer to 90 to 100 degrees field of view).
In addition to redesigned ergonomics, Sony says the next PSVR controller will “contain some of the key features of the DualSense wireless controller.” ‘It could include the precise haptics, variable-resistance triggers and sharply built-in speakers already well-used in some standard PS5 games.
This is a big step of the PlayStation Move controllers that many PSVR games currently use to track hand. It was originally launched in 2010, long before VR consumers were a concern, and is generally seen as a more accurate answer to the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect handheld controls for flat-screen games. A controller built specifically for VR can improve reliability or even eliminate the need for an external camera for detection.
Existing PlayStation VR owners can currently use the headset and controllers with the PlayStation 5, but to do so, a special adapter is required to connect the aging PS4 camera (the PS5’s own “PlayStation HD camera” is not compatible with current PlayStation VR). Ars’ own testing during the launch of the system also found that PSVR games generally did not gain a striking fidelity on the PS5, as some other backward-compatible games did.
Prior to today, Sony was not prepared to comment very directly on the future of virtual reality hardware on the PS5. Jim Ryan, CEO of PlayStation, told The Washington Post in October that “PlayStation believes in VR. Sony believes in VR, and we firmly believe that VR will be a significant component of interactive entertainment at some point. “Will it be this year? No. Is it next year? No. But will it come at some point? We believe it.”
Sony has sold more than 5 million PlayStation VR headsets since 2016, after 4.2 million sales in early 2019. This makes PSVR one of the top-selling VR headsets so far, although the aging hardware has been heavily sold by Oculus in recent months. ‘standalone Quest headset, according to estimates by analytics firm Superdata.