Sony's released a new promotional video for the PlayStation VR2 focusing on some of the virtual reality headset's main features. The next-gen headset remains tentatively planned for release in early 2023 and is an accessory exclusive to the PS5. Advertising a virtual reality headset can be difficult, however, since players can't experience VR themselves until it's available. It's doubly hard when the PS VR 2 is a generational step forward from the original PS VR headset. Sony's going to do what it can, though.
A big part of the trailer for the PlayStation VR2 headset is focusing on games that are planned to be released for the device. These games include Horizon: Call of the Mountain, Firewall Ultra, No Man's Sky, Resident Evil Village, and The Walking Dead Saints and Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution. This also helps keep focus on upcoming VR games, since the PS VR2 headset is not backward compatible with PS VR titles.
The features shown in the new PlayStation VR2 video start with the VR headset's improved resolution. Dubbed "4K HDR Display," the headset actually features two 2,000x2,040 displays -- one for each eye. 4K or not, that's still over four times the resolution of the original headset. The next main feature is eye tracking, at least in games that support it. The example shown is using eye tracking for menus in Firewall Ultra to choose a weapon from the player's inventory. Foveated rendering will also use eye tracking to ensure resolution peaks where the player is looking. The last headset feature shown is 110-degree field of view, 10 degrees more than the original PS VR headset.
Other features shown in the trailer focus on the PlayStation VR2's controllers. The controllers feature finger touch detection, haptic button feedback, and adaptive triggers. These are features designed to make players' hands feel more realistic in-game.
It's important to keep in mind that these are just new features for the PS VR2. And it isn't even all of them. Sony has already confirmed that the PS VR2 will feature enhanced comfort for lens positioning, inside-out tracking with four headset cameras, and a single-cable connection that works through the PS5's front USB port. It's designed to address many of the biggest criticisms of the original PS VR.
There are still a lot of questions left for Sony to answer, of course. The PS VR2 doesn't have a release date yet, nor does it have a price. It also doesn't matter how many features the PS VR2 supports if its games aren't designed around them. As impressive as the PS VR2 may seem on paper and in trailers, Sony still has its work cut out for it persuading PS5 users to buy an expensive headset that doesn't even support backward compatibility with the original PS VR.
The PlayStation VR 2 releases in early 2023 for PS5.
