Sony To Launch Virtual-Reality Headset By 2016

(RTTNews) - At the 2015 Game Developers Conference held in San Francisco, Sony Corp.'s (SON.L, SNE) Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. unveiled the new prototype of "Project Morpheus" - a virtual reality or VR system that takes the PlayStation4 or PS4 system to the next level of immersion and demonstrates the future of gaming. SCE will continue the development of Morpheus in order to launch as a consumer product in the first half of 2016.

In exchange for the 5-inch LCD, the new Morpheus VR headset is equipped with a 5.7-inch 1920 x RGB x 1080 resolution OLED display. This new screen expands the field of view and enables low persistence, removing motion blur or flicker, both of which build immersion and help deliver the sense of presence for the player.

By adopting OLED, Morpheus now supports 120fps output, and is able to render 120 images per second. Furthermore, via a system software update, all PS4 systems will handle native 120fps output when connected to Morpheus.

The new prototype has added three more LEDs to the headset for a total of nine to make positional tracking more accurate with PlayStationCamera. Morpheus now supports robust 360 degree tracking. Additionally, the overall system has been optimized to reduce latency between the physical movement of a player's head and rendering on the headset's screen, the company said.

Separately, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that the PlayStation4 (PS4) computer entertainment system has cumulatively sold through more than 20.2 million units worldwide as of March 1.

It will continue to expand the world of PS4 to deliver entertainment experiences that are only possible on PlayStation.

The PS4 system is currently available in 123 countries and regions worldwide.