Sony Project Morpheus Release Date: Nears Completion, Could Beat Oculus Rift to the Market
Sony's Project Morpheus is a virtual reality headset for use with the Playstation 4 and PSVita. Sony's own VR headset was in direct competition to the more well-known Oculus Rift, which is coming soon. However, it would seem that despite having started later than the latter in terms of development, Sony might beat the Oculus in releasing the device to the market.
The company has been working non-stop on the development of the VR headset and while they have not unveiled a solid release date for the device, Sony confirms that the headset's development stage is nearing completion.
Sony's Worldwide Studios Boss Shuhei Yoshida had explained that the team in charge with the Project Morpheus headset has already finished about 85-percent of the work leading up to the final product.
The news about the project's completion was first heard of during the Tokyo Game Show, which launched a few days ago. Working models of the Morpheus headset were put up by Sony to test and visitors who tried the headset had been seen being fully immersed in the virtual reality environment Project Morpheus was able to convey.
Some people were trying a sea-exploration game and was reported by The Wall Street Journal to have been making swimming-like moves. Yoshida had said that the headset's big appeal were the sensor-equipped controls system that allowed users to affect the virtual world in real time. The headset was also equipped with a surround sound system which added to the immersive experience.
While Mr. Yoshida had kept the device's price under wraps, he had given a hint that the headset will be using parts and components that are also found on smartphones. This implies that Sony is likely going for a more affordable virtual reality headset. Initially, the target market would be gamers but Mr. Yoshida hopes to attract non-gamers eventually.
The Oculus Rift, on the other hand, is already available for developers in the form of a test-kit which sells for $350.
