Presented to the general public as Project Morpeheus, it soon turned into PlayStation VR, the first viewer dedicated exclusively to video games
PlayStation VR is the great challenge that Sony has launched to the world of video games: to bring virtual reality on a console that has much less computing power than personal computers and at the same time reduce costs to a minimum. Will it succeed? Let's find out together.
What is PlayStation VR. To relaunch the console industry and prepare for the release of the new PlayStation 4 Pro, available in stores from November, Sony has decided to focus on virtual reality and develop a visor dedicated exclusively to gaming. An important choice that of the Japanese company that bets on a sector in net growth but has not yet demonstrated its full potential. Despite major investments by large companies, VR viewers have failed to win the general public and sales numbers are not exciting.
PlayStation VR tries to win this challenge focusing mainly on two factors: the first concerns the price (the visor has a selling price of 399 euros, well below the most popular HTC Vive and Oculus Rift), while the second is the number of games already available on launch day (there are fifty including some high-budget). If the VR viewer will be able to conquer the fine palate of gamers, then it will mean that for virtual reality the future is all downhill, in fact with PlayStation VR is not only at stake the credibility of a company like Sony, but also the development of the entire field of virtual reality.
The technical characteristics of the PlayStation VR
(Taken from YouTube)
For Sony it wasn't easy to develop a VR visor that on the one hand had to satisfy the demands of gamers, now accustomed to video games with high quality graphics, and on the other hand contain the costs so that it could be purchased by most users. Putting together these two issues came out a VR viewer that has technical characteristics much lower than the most direct competition, but thanks to the skill of the engineers of the Japanese company still manages to say its offering a gaming experience never tried before.
Strictly speaking of the technical characteristics of the PlayStation VR, the device features a 5.7 'OLED panel at 120 Hz that offers a resolution per eye of 960×1080. Nonostante sia inferiore rispetto all’Oculus Rift e allo HTC Vive, l’esperienza di gioco non sembra risentirne: infatti, i giochi sono perfettamente ottimizzati per il visore VR e permettono agli utenti di immergersi completamente nella realtà virtuale. PlayStation VR si abbina perfettamente con la potenza sviluppata dalla console di casa Sony senza che ci sia nessun problema di comunicazione tra i due dispositivi.
Come utilizzare PlayStation VR
Fonte foto: Sony
PlayStation VR
Dopo aver acquistato il visore VR è necessario collegarlo con la PlayStation 4 e con gli altri dispositivi necessari per il perfetto funzionamento. Infatti, PlayStation VR non è un dispositivo stand-alone che funziona anche in mancanza della PlayStation 4: senza la console Sony si rivela un oggetto totalmente inutile. For this reason, if you were to buy a complete bundle with all the accessories needed for the proper functioning of PlayStation VR, the cost can exceed 800 euros.
After connecting the viewer with the console, the user must also mount the PlayStation Camera on the TV, essential for head tracking and associate the PlayStation VR controller PlayStation Move. Although the fifty video games available on the market can also be played through the DualShock joypad, the experience that the Move offers is totally different. After completing the entire initial phase, lasting half an hour, it will finally be possible to enter the parallel world of virtual reality.
The living room VR visor
The cables supplied with the visor do not allow gamers to move too far away from the console: the choice made by Sony is very precise: PlayStation VR is a viewer to be used in your living room, in a comfortable place where the risks to health are minimal. For this reason, the Japanese company has made sure that the VR viewer is as comfortable as possible. And even in this case the goal has been achieved. In fact, despite a weight more excessive than the most direct competition (over six hundred grams), PlayStation VR presents a structure that fits perfectly to the head of the users and that does not go to burden the muscles of the neck. Inoltre, il visore VR è stato sviluppato appositamente per coloro che portano gli occhiali: tra gli occhi e lo schermo OLED c’è uno spazio sufficiente per posizionare la montatura senza che crei nessun problema all’esperienza videoludica. Nel caso in cui si svoglia smettere, basterà premere il pulsante e il visore si allontanerà dagli occhi.
La nausea da movimento: un problema da non sottovalutare per PlayStation VR
Fonte foto: Web
Come utilizzare il visore VR
Uno dei freni che ha bloccato la crescita della realtà virtuale e gli acquisti dei dispositivi è stato sicuramente i problemi riscontrati da molte persone dopo aver utilizzato, anche solamente per una decina di minuti, un visore VR. La maggior parte degli utenti denuncia una sensazione di nausea e spossatezza che in alcuni casi ha portato le persone a rigettare il pranzo o la cena. For this reason, some doctors have somehow tried to raise the issue by warning people: prolonged use of VR viewers can lead to even quite serious problems. In many cases, however, nausea from movement, is caused mainly by the state of health: in fact, some users, even prolonged use of virtual reality has not brought any kind of problem.
Another thing to keep under control is the proximity of the OLED screen on the face of people: the eyes are one of the parts mainly called into question during the use of VR visors. Excessive abuse could tire the eyes very quickly and create some blurring problems to the vision.
The big PlayStation VR exclusives
Like any self-respecting big console PlayStation VR was launched with big exclusives, hoping to entice the general public and push them to buy the headseat from Sony house. Inside the box, the Japanese company had gamers find some demos that could give them an idea of what the virtual home experience is all about. Although they are short demos, in some cases they are real gems to be tried with care.
Talking, however, of the actual video games available on the shelves, in many cases they are small experiments carried out by independent software houses ready in the near future to churn out complete video games for PlayStation VR. Among the fifty titles, only two can say they had an adequate budget at their disposal: Batman Arkham VR and Until Dawn: Rush of Blood. Above all, the first was presented to the press with great pomp and circumstance during the last international fair dedicated to video games. Once you put on the PlayStation VR and enter the world of the masked man, you notice all the problems that still surround the virtual reality. Difficulty in movement, graphics not very high level: nothing that can not be solved, but it takes time for the VR visor Sony, despite all the technical problems, can express the full potential.
The future, however, is certainly brighter: large software houses have put in the pipeline the development of video games dedicated specifically to the PlayStation VR visor and will take advantage of all the features that the device Sony offers at the time. It is still early to give a final judgment on PlayStation VR: the Japanese company has certainly done a great job and has developed a VR viewer functional to its idea of virtual reality. If it will be enough, players will tell us, who in the coming months will be able to experience PlayStation VR without any qualms. Solamente loro ci diranno se Sony avrà vinto la sfida con la realtà virtuale.
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