PlayStation senior vice president of platform experience, Hideaki Nishino, revealed details about the next-generation PlayStation VR2 platform.
Yes, it wasn’t brilliantly supported by software, and yes, the PlayStation Move controllers are a bit rubbish, but 2016’s PlayStation VR was still one of the better stabs at bringing virtual reality into the mainstream.
That’s not to say there aren’t cheaper ways to do it (the slightly naff but very accessible Google Cardboard springs to mind) or better platforms (like the Steam-supported HTC Vive, which requires a monster gaming PC) but in the Venn diagram of price + experience + how many people already owned a PS4, it was probably as close as anyone’s come to the sweet spot.
(Don’t @ us, Oculus fanboys. Yes, we know the Quest 2 is completely wireless and very accessible. But Palmer Luckey is a terrible human being, and he sold the company to Mark Zuckerberg, who is a terrible robot cosplaying as a terrible human being. It’s hard to keep your conscience clean and support Oculus.)
And while PlayStation has been quiet on the virtual reality front in recent years, it’s been rumoured that a next-generation PlayStation VR headset would be coming, to pair up with the PlayStation 5 console.
Now we’ve had proof of life on the PlayStation Blog, of an imaginatively-named headset called the PlayStation VR2, plus a new VR controller called the PlayStation VR2 Sense Controllers.
The headline items are that the PlayStation VR2 uses headset-based controller tracking – four cameras built into the headset will track the controller, so there’s no need for external cameras, sensors, or base stations – and will also feature advanced features like vibration feedback in the headset, and eye-tracking in the display.
On the controller front (in addition to that headset-based tracking), the PlayStation VR2 Sense Controllers will feature the same sort of haptic feedback you’ll feel on the PS5’s DualSense controller – AKA, the PlayStation 5’s killer feature – alongside all the other motion-based gubbins you’d expect to find in VR.
Here are the full specs.
PlayStation VR2 headset specs
- Display method: OLED
- Panel resolution: 2000 x 2040 per eye
- Panel refresh rate: 90Hz, 120Hz
- Lens separation: Adjustable
- Field of View: Approx. 110 degrees
- Sensors:
- Motion Sensor: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer)
- Attachment Sensor: IR Proximity sensor
- Cameras: 4 cameras for headset and controller tracking; IR camera for eye tracking per eye
- Feedback: Vibration on headset
- Communication with PS5: USB Type-C
- Audio:
- Input: Built-in microphone
- Output: Stereo headphone jack
PlayStation VR2 Sense Controller specs
- Buttons:
- Right: PS button, Options button, Action buttons (Circle / Cross), R1 button, R2 button, Right stick / R3 button
- Left: PS button, Create button, Action buttons (Triangle / Square), L1 button, L2 button, Left stick / L3 button
- Sensing/ Tracking:
- Motion Sensor: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope + three-axis accelerometer)
- Capacitive Sensor: Finger Touch Detection
- IR LED: Position Tracking
- Feedback: Trigger Effect (on R2/L2 button), Haptic Feedback (by single actuator per unit)
- Port: USB Type-C Port
- Communication: Bluetooth Ver5.1
- Battery: Type: Built-in Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery
What’s a little disappointing about those specs is that while the PlayStation VR2 Sense Controllers are wireless, the PlayStation VR2 headset will need to be tethered to your PlayStation 5 by a USB Type-C cable.
What’s also a little disappointing is that we don’t get to see what the PlayStation VR2 headset and VR2 Sense Controllers will look like. It was a very text-heavy announcement from Hideaki Nishino, so we’re not holding out much hope that they’ll be, erm, less aesthetically divisive than the PS5 itself. (Get ready for months of rubbish fan-made 3D renders until we get to see the real thing, too.)
In less disappointing news, Guerrilla Games and Firesprite are working on a Horizon game for PlayStation VR2, named Horizon Call of the Mountain.
So while you’ll (probably) still look daft in your (probably) massive, (probably) shiny white and black PlayStation VR2 headset, at least Sony is chucking the weight of one of its biggest franchises behind the next generation of PlayStation VR.
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