Today, in a recent post over on the PlayStation Blog, the company has revealed some new, exciting features for the PS VR2. While we’re still unsure about the release date of Sony’s next-gen VR headset, with the influx of news and updates from the manufacturer, we can only guess that the wait won’t be long. As for the features, Sony highlighted four different things, all of which contribute to the virtual-reality experience and add up to make a solid product. Let’s take a look.
See-Through View
First and foremost, perhaps the most intriguing feature on display (no pun intended) here is the new See-Through View. Thanks to the PS VR2’s front cameras scattered across the face of the headset, the player can now view their surroundings while wearing it. Usually, when you’ve donned a VR headset, your entire view is blocked by the screens pressed against your eyes. This makes for an awesome viewing experience inside, but you become completely unaware of your surroundings. Now, with this new See-Through View, with just the press of a button on the headset, or a toggle in the PS5’s Control Center, you can see a live feed of what the cameras are capturing right in the headset.
Sony does point out that while the cameras can capture all of this to help you be more wary of the things around you, it does not let you actually record through these cameras. That being said, if you do want to stream or broadcast yourself while playing a game, you can still do so with a compatible camera.
Broadcast yourself in VR
This is the second feature Sony highlighted in its post, where they talked about how you can connect the PS5 HD Camera to the console and film yourself slaughtering your way through hordes of enemies. The camera can apparently mask out the background in real-time, too, as suggested by the picture below.
Customizable Play Area
Moving on, another interesting feature coming to the PS VR2 is Customized Play Area. Using the Sense controllers in unison with the front cameras, the headset can scan and detect the available room inside any area you’re playing in. Then, you can use the controllers to manually adjust the play area, by extending or contracting the boundaries to your liking.
While playing, when you’re too close to these boundaries, the headset will give you a warning, allowing you to readjust yourself. Unless you move to a different play area, the headset will keep the environment’s settings saved, in which case you will have to go through the calibration process again.
PS VR2’s modes
Lastly, Sony glanced over the two main modes of the PS VR2: VR Mode and Cinematic Mode. As the name suggests, the VR Mode alludes to playing VR games or watching VR content that is viewable in complete 360° angles. In this mode, all content will displayed in 4000 x 2040 resolution with either a 90Hz or 120Hz frame rate. All non-VR content including any media and games will make use of the Cinematic Mode. Things like the PS5 UI is a prime example; navigating through menus and such will be done on a virtual cinema screen. Essentially, a VR experience will be emulated. Here, content will be shown in 1920 x 1080 with 24/60Hz, alongside 120Hz frame rate options. Both modes are also HDR-enforced, which means everything will be displayed in HDR. It’s important to note that the VR Mode’s 4000 x 2040 resolution is divided among the two screens, so you will see 2000 x 2040 per eye. That about wraps it up for all the new features Sony introduced in their new blog post. Sony does mention that a software update to the PS5 will allow game developers to access all of these latest features, so they can develop the most innovative VR experiences possible, The company will share more details regarding their headset soon. All images courtesy of PlayStation.
