Can It Be Even Cooler? New 4K PSVR Plus Eye-Tracking & Vibration

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Discover the latest trends on-the-go. This is a quick topic recap of one of the five biggest AR/VR trends in May identified by SparkAmplify. Below is a recap on Sony’s reported plan for its new 4K PlayStation VR headset, which has been a trending topic in the AR/VR sphere. For more information on SparkAmplify’s monthly AR/VR topic analysis, please visit: https://www.sparkamplab.com/

Latest Developments: Insider news from Bloomberg this past June reports that the headset can be expected to be out in time for the 2022 holiday season. 

Why It Matters: Recently, rumours have been circulating online thanks to UploadVR’s scoop that Sony has plans to release a new VR headset for their Playstation 5 console, featuring several groundbreaking enhancements that have been generating excitement among the gaming and VR community. 

‍Details: This recent news regarding the PSVR headset provides some insight into what the future looks like for gamers - greater gameplay immersion and higher quality imaging. One such enhancement includes a 2000 x 2040 pixel per eye resolution - a vast improvement compared to the original Playstation VR and competitor Oculus Quest 2, pointed out by XDA Developers.

Resolution aside, other outstanding features expected in the new PSVR headset are the vibration motor for haptic feedback and foveated rendering. 

The haptic feedback provided through the vibration motor is in addition to the haptic triggers in the recently announced PSVR controllers. With combined usage of the headset and controllers, users will be able to experience even more immersive gameplay. If you thought that you always feel sucked into the world of the game, it’s about to be heightened.

Foveated rendering’s inclusion is intriguing due to the way in which it improves product efficiency by tracking the user’s eye movements, rather than having to load images all at once even when in the user’s periphery. This concept is not entirely new though, as noted by Kotaku, since the Oculus Quest and Quest 2 products contain a simpler version of it, albeit without the aid of the eye tracking abilities of the PSVR headset. 

Also observed by The Verge - the USB-C cable of Playstation’s upcoming product is unsurprising, given that the PS5 console contained a port just for it.

The Big Picture: The new PSVR headset comes at a time where plenty of companies are developing their own, diversifying the offerings in the market. UploadVR mentions that Mark Zuckerberg has hinted at Facebook’s venture into a Quest Pro set, while Apple and HTC are both also looking at entering the market.

What to Watch: Nonetheless, much of this PSVR news is speculation, and as Tech Times points out, the product is likely still in the development and prototyping phase. Given how mum Sony remains about the new PSVR headset, it might still be a while before we get a proper announcement from them. The headset thus far sounds promising, so we have plenty to be excited about.