January 5, 2022. at the CES conference, Sony announced to the public about the development of a new generation of VR headsets for the PlayStation console. However, the conference itself also touched upon many other interesting aspects related to the future of the company. We’ve learned that Sony is very keen to invest in the user experience of its consoles. The word ‘immersion’ was repeatedly emphasized”. Thus, we can expect that in addition to the launch of new points awaiting us, we will soon be able to see far-reaching solutions in the direction of increasing user engagement during the game.

Today, seven months after the CES conference, we already know a lot more about the new developments from Sony that we will be able to see soon. There was even a general announcement about the launch of new hardware. What will I offer gamers the new generation of PlayStation VR 2 glasses? What does the new hardware look like and what features does it have? How will the launch of new glasses affect the VR industry?

What do we know about the new VR glasses for PlayStation?

In a nutshell, it will be an improved version of Sony’s previous-generation VR headset. However, the launch of the new console hides more than just minor hardware upgrades. The owner of the PlayStation brand promises to improve the experience directly related to the gameplay and emotions that upcoming games should deliver to us. Watching the CES conference, it was easy to determine the direction in which Sony is going to develop, and what experience it intends to transfer through its future productions. Listening to the conference, it was possible to conclude that emotions are the priority values. It was around them that the presentation of the new glasses was focused. Their value in digital entertainment has been repeatedly emphasized. For Sony, delivering these extraordinary thrills, gaming experiences will be the number one goal. For this reason, the presentation of PSVR2 consisted of solutions that can not only increase the user’s immersion, but also prevent him from getting out of it. Better tracking of controllers, embedding the camera directly into the glasses instead of an external camera, and even vents built into the new glasses-all for increased freedom during the game. Little things like this make a huge difference. For example, losing tracking can be very unpleasant for the user and immediately knocks them out of the flow state. It’s the same with foggy lenses , which sometimes require us to take our glasses off our heads to wipe them down. These may be the basics, but they are often overlooked. So I’m glad that Sony did its homework and not only focused on new features, but also took care to develop the technologies that it had before. We can also expect visual quality improvements in the new glasses and the addition of eye-tracking technology. In addition, even the headset itself is equipped with haptic technology and, together with the “sense controllers”, actively receives vibration signals from virtual space. As for the quality of the image itself, we can expect the introduction of 4k resolution in the Headset, foveated rendering technology that uses an eye tracker, and the expansion of the field of view of the space in glasses. I’m really excited that a huge company like Sony sees this immersive potential and invests in the virtual reality industry, because it signals a bright future for the development of this technology. I hope that the next conferences will be as interesting and rich in PSVR2 news as the last one. I also believe that we will not have to wait for such conferences for too long, because 23. August 2022.there are new news about the launch. In the official Twitter profile of PlayStation, you can read that the launch of new glasses is likely to take place in the first quarter of 2023.

A new era of gaming.Virtual Revolution

Along with improved technology solutions for PSVR2, Sony also announced a plan to further develop the gaming industry. The upcoming exclusive games that will be available thanks to the new points have already been published in this section. This:

• Resident Evil 8
• Resident Evil 4 Remake (compatible content)
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• No Man’s Sky The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Chapter 2 – Retribution
• Among Us VR
• Runner
• Low-Fi
• Samurai Slaughter House Firmament

This is just the beginning of what new points will be offered in the future. Only announcing, porting exclusive games, and creating new games for the VR platform, so I’m curious about what else Sony will show us in the near future. I believe that there are still many positive surprises waiting for us, because looking at the list of titles, you can see that the idea of strengthening the trend of virtual reality glasses is being implemented with great momentum. There will probably be more games coming to VR soon, and the list will certainly expand regularly. I believe that the launch of PSVR2 may be the beginning of a change in players ‘ expectations of the game itself. My impression is that Sony wants the PlayStation and other consoles to stop being compared to computers, and it wants to do so precisely by bringing new experiences to the gaming world, on a global scale.

What impact will PSVR2 launch have on the VR industry?

I believe that with actions like investing in haptic technology and a deeper user experience, the number of VR users will definitely increase (and I don’t just mean PSVR2 users). Based on the results of a conversation between a Sony representative and the editor of the GamesIndustry website.biz, we learned that in June 2022. in a year, sales of the console exceeded 20 million units (and are constantly growing). So given this interest in the console and the number of Sony fans, I’m sure many of them (even those who haven’t experienced VR before) will start exploring this technology. I believe that the launch of PSVR2 will help not only increase the user base using Sony solutions, but also expand the overall community of people using virtual reality glasses.

This will certainly encourage a reaction from the manufacturers of the competing Xbox console. As we well know, since the days of Kinect, the topic of bringing mobility and a new user experience has been a bit forgotten by Microsoft. It’s a pity, because the kinect in 2008 was really great, then it seemed unsurpassed. However, I feel a lack of desire to continue this topic on the part of Microsoft. I believe that if they had continued to invest in user tracking technologies, then 14 years after the launch of Kinect, they might have really had something special. Meanwhile, the success of Kinect is a thing of the past, and Microsoft has yet to show anything that could change that. Sony, on the other hand, has been investing in PlayStation Move technology updates all along, and is opening up the next chapter. game.

I have a feeling that Sony is more progressive, trying to change something, revolutionize, while Microsoft, in addition to improving its equipment (which they do very well), does not show us anything new that could please or attract new users. This is evident in the new generation of consoles, where, without a doubt, the power of the new Xbox looks much better than the Playstation, but does not offer anything innovative. At that time, PlayStation improved the Dualshock controller and introduced us to a new Dualsense controller with more powerful tactile features. Invested in VR technology and increased the circulation of exclusive games. Personally, I own an Xbox One series X, and I’m very happy with it. The speed of the hardware is definitely better than in the previous generation, so it feels like a significant technological leap has actually been made. The smoothness of the app and the speed of switching between different games have been improved with the added quick resume feature. In addition, my library was filled with free apps from the Xbox Game Pass (which I had already been given back repeatedly), with which I could dodge games that I probably wouldn’t have bought myself. This is definitely a great option for gamers. However, it seems to me that just as with this generation of consoles I already had a big dilemma, which one of these consoles to choose, then with the next generation (for now) I’d rather choose PlayStation. You can see that Sony and Microsoft are going in two different directions. PlayStation will move towards immersive, deeper user experience, and Xbox will continue to follow the path of comparing the power of consoles with the power of desktop computers. I think it might just lose the Xbox in the future. However, I hope I’m wrong and Microsoft will surprise us yet again. It’s still too early to think about any announcements of a new console, so there’s a lot more to come. However, there is no doubt that the launch of PSVR2 should motivate Microsoft employeesy, for preparing an interesting counter-offer, or for offering competitors. Sony has already made its move, now we just have to wait for a response from Microsoft.

Maciej Fiałkowski, EpicVR