Sony has this week given us a glimpse of its eye-searingly impressive 8K VR head-mounted display. The headset prototype can project a high-definition 3D environment, with the ability to generate images in hyper-detailed 8K resolution.
The prototype made its debut on Monday (December 6) at the Sony Technology Day, an event that's themed under the banner of "Technology that inspires emotion." And there's no question that this VR prototype will make your eyes water: it boasts vastly increased visuals and much lower latency than the current crop of the best VR headset devices, amongst other impressive features.
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According to Eurogamer, the prototype was "developed by Sony R&D (not PlayStation)," and was unveiled in a video as part of the Sony event. To be clear: the VR headset is just a prototype at this stage – though it could be an important step in the development process leading up to the PlayStation VR's successor, the PSVR 2.
One of the main goals of the prototype project is to reduce latency, partly due to dizziness being one of the key challenges faced when using VR devices. As demonstrated by the project's engineers, Yasuko Ishihara and Kei Kimura, you can tell difference between when latency compensation is activated and when not. A reduction in motion sickness would make VR gaming a far more pleasant experience for all, where it's currently a barrier to longer gaming sessions.
Lower latency
Other benefits from the prototype are significantly improved visuals which use OLED microdisplays for each eye. Individually they offer 4K visuals; 8K with both eyes. Sony says that the "processing time is reduced by decreasing the amount of latency throughout the entire system thanks to the integration of data from multiple sensors." This should result in a smoother and more realistic sense of movement, avoiding artificial drag and helping curb the difficulties users face when adapting to movements.
For now, there's not much more to go on than those cursory details. It's also definitely not foreshadowing the imminent release of the PSVR 2, which is still some time away. But not to worry: you choose from any of our compatible best gaming headsets to use with your PS5 box, though we have one eye firmly cast in the direction of the PSVR 2, which is likely to level up the VR experience to a whole other dimension.
