The specialized site UploadVR says it has obtained the first details on the next-generation VR headset branded Sony PlayStation. It is about 4K display, eye tracking and haptic functions a little more advanced than expected, while the first development kits for what will still be called the PlayStation VR 2 (unofficial name) ) – the dedicated virtual reality headset for the PS5 – are starting to make their way to the development studios, it was inevitable that indiscretions would start to bloom about it. And it was the UploadVR specialists who were the quickest to harvest: while the headset is not expected to be released until next year, the American site says it has already received confirmation from several sources. confidence “, of some of its specifics.
It all starts at the most basic level with the display definition, which would amount to around 2000 x 2040px per eye. The gain is spectacular compared to the first generation PlayStation VR (number of pixels almost multiplied by 4), but ultimately it only brings the PS VR 2 to a level comparable to what will be the norm by the time of its release – already today, it is only slightly above the 1832 x 1920 px per eye of the Oculus Quest 2. Still with a view to upgrading visual comfort, the PS VR 2 would be equipped with a mechanism physical adjustment of the interpupillary distance, where its predecessor had only perfectly still optics, supplemented only by software adjustment.
Things become noticeably more intriguing when UploadVR evokes the presence of a “foveal rendering technology” “associated with an eye tracking system. Concretely, this would allow the console to employ a spatially variable rendering definition – very high at the exact center of the user’s vision (where the acuity of vision is highest), then rapidly decreasing. on the outskirts – and thus optimize the use that is made of its computing power.
Even though such systems have already existed for a long time in certain professional virtual reality applications, the PS VR 2 could herald itself as the first consumer VR headset to adopt this concept. Haptic feedback as a bulwark against motion sickness? , the most astonishing indiscretion concerns the haptic feedback functions of the headphones. If Sony has already confirmed that the controllers associated with the headset would exploit feedback similar to those already provided by the DualSense controller, we did not necessarily expect, however, that the headset itself also embeds haptic motors.
At present, we can obviously only speculate on the use that could be made of it, but the most interesting potential would lie in the fight against motion sickness. Numerous studies have indeed shown that applying very light vibrations to the user’s temples synchronized with the movements of his virtual avatar (for example, stuck on his walking steps) can prove to be very effective in deceiving his inner ear. , and make him “believe” in the movements that he perceives visually, thus drastically reducing the sensation of discomfort.
All this information must obviously be taken with the usual precautions, especially since the availability of PlayStation VR 2 will have to wait many, many months at best – Sony has yet to say anything about this, other than the fact that the headset “won’t be released[it] not in 2021 “. There is therefore still plenty of time for some of these specifications to change between now and the final product.
