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GDC Expo: hands on impressions/media of Project Morpheus (Sony VR)

K

KoopaTheCasual

Junior Member
gofreak said:
Kotaku article. Light on actual impressions aside from the headline, but has some tidbits from their conversation with Anton and Yoshida.

They got to play EvE, but beyond saying that they don't give their impressions of it! Haven't watched the videos yet, but they say they'll get into deeper impressions and comparisons with Oculus DK2 in another article.

We Just Tried Sony's PS4 Virtual Reality Headset. We Like It.

v6jwb0ehjpxnuqcsaamb.jpg




Videos at the link may have more.
Click to expand...
Gotta spread those hits, mang.
 
iceatcs

iceatcs

Junior Member
mrklaw said:
It looks quite polished for a device not coming out this year.
Click to expand...

Yeah it quite suspense. Seem all the design planning look so complete. Maybe it's very ready than we thought, just they need more contents such as software, media etc, to be ready.
 
H

Hellshy.

Member
thunder_snail said:
Ideal team:

1) Oculus for R&D on how to make VR better
2) Sony for lenses from their experience with cameras
3) Samsung for OLED

Chance of this happening: 0%
Click to expand...

I dont know about #1 . Oculus has a great team but Sony R&D plus NASA intrigues me even more.
I would love to know more about this partnership and who from NASA is helping out but they are treating this project like a national secret. I still cant get over how they managed to keep the fact that they have been working on this since 2010.
 
N

Nzyme32

Member
msdstc said:
Thanks for the link, love stuff like this. Could you link me to the most impressive vids or at least the videos that capture the immersiveness the best? Hoping to make it out to E3 this year, so I'm assuming I'll get to try it then, but for now I'll scratch that itch with vids.
Click to expand...

I haven't got any links that will really do it justice, but some good examples came from valve's vr prototype and the sense of presence it brought. One example is people being on the edge of a virtual cliff. Each person was asked to step off the edge but only a minority were able to do it after enough goading. This is because of a very visceral feeling of fear. People splay out, sweat, knees lock up or they tremble. The feelings do not change with repetition.

Another example was a giant version of one of the robots from portal 2. The sense of scale and awe of seeing such a giant thing were so compelling that several people took out their phones to try and take a picture of it.
 
E

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
iceatcs said:
Yeah it quite suspense. Seem all the design planning look so complete. Maybe it's very ready than we thought, just they need more contents such as software, media etc, to be ready.
Click to expand...
I think Sony being a consumer electronics company, comfort, form factor and industrial design were given special emphasis before a reveal to GDC attendants.
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
The Kotaku videos are worth a look. An Anton-guided tour of the set and its adjustability, and then a good look at the Deep demo, being played by Kirk Hamilton. He characterises it as 'very similar' to Oculus DK2 in terms of quality, and talks a little about how it works with his glasses also.

No EvE impressions in the vids though.
 
B

bj00rn_

Banned
KoopaTheCasual said:
Neato. Impressed with Morpheus managing to reduce the screen-door effect better than Crystal Cove, since I thought CC having OLED would give Oculus the edge in that regard? But that FOV sounds like a problem that I hope they can fix.
Click to expand...

There's a direct link between the FOV and the screen door effect.
 
C

Chabbles

Member
Adry9 said:
‏@ID_AA_Carmack
https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/446271995668217857
John Carmack - "Calibrate PS4 VR expectations: a game that ran 60 fps on PS3 could be done in VR (stereo 1080 MSAA low latency 60 fps) on PS4."
Click to expand...

Hey Carmack, the ocean called, their running out of salt.
13-seinfeld-comeback.jpg


Seriously though, I was thinking about this last night. Realistically, for what VR requires, and considering the PS4 hardware, after the announcement last night i've already set my expectations to PS2(Edit, i mean PS3) quality games. Only with better textures, AA, res and framerate.. and maybe some improved lighting and other effects.... pretty much everything that annoyed me about PS3 games over the last few years, improved upon but now playable and in VR.
If sony can somehow optimize and work some magic, it could only get better.
 
T

TopGun

Banned
So Morpheus and Oculus are going toe to toe now? Why not combine efforts for a cross platform VR set? Oh wait, money comes into play here. I currently don't see a use for VR in my games. I just see oculus rift "Waifu cuddling demos" on YouTube and gimmicks in games that would get old after a while. However, I could get into racing games with it; but dudebro shooters would probably dominate the market.
 
M

Maninthemirror

Banned
Polygon: we were more impressed than we thought we would be

http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/19/55...-playstation-4-virtual-reality-helmet-is-much

The headset itself is also ... conspicuous. It's comfortable while worn, but it's covered in lights, and combined with the light from the controllers you can start to feel like you're inside a very strange rave. It's not a problem once you're inside the game, but it can be very strange to watch someone flail around with lighted controllers while their head is also covered in lights. Those lights are most likely used for calibration with the camera, but they make the helmet feel like a prop from a Daft Punk video.

These are nit picks though, and they can be adjusted or fixed for the final version. Sony's challenge was to prove that it could do virtual reality as well as the Oculus Rift, and they passed that test with ease.

The display looks wonderful, the demos were running at 60 frames per second, the screens looked just about as good as the Rift Development Kit 2, and the issues with light bleed and field of view can be fixed with a different fitting around the eyes and a slightly different display.

Sony has nailed the hard parts of virtual reality, and now it's just a matter of finishing the hardware and shoring up software support. Based on these early demos, they're onto something special.
Click to expand...
 
N

Nzyme32

Member
Chabbles said:
Hey Carmack, the ocean called, their running out of salt.
13-seinfeld-comeback.jpg


Seriously though, I was thinking about this last night. Realistically, for what VR requires, and considering the PS4 hardware, after the announcement last night i've already set my expectations to PS2 quality games. Only with better textures, AA, res and framerate.. and maybe some improved lighting and other effects.... pretty much everything that annoyed me about PS3 games over the last few years, improved upon but now playable and in VR.
If sony can somehow optimize and work some magic, it could only get better.
Click to expand...

Nah, I think you'll see better than PS3 quality games, just not the same as what the ps4 is doing in normal 2D. I think there is a fair bit of misconception for graphics. Consoles have rarely used good MSAA and high resolutions and frame rates. The experience should look clean clear and nice, but VR adds so much more to the experience that the graphics being lower will not matter much at all
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Ben Kuchera's opinion for Polygon. He's been pretty big into Oculus.

Project Morpheus, Sony's PlayStation 4 virtual reality helmet, is much better than expected


The post-Oculus world has a minimum level of quality for virtual reality that new products have to at least match, if not clear, and Sony’s push into console-based virtual reality could poison the well for other companies if their high-profile hardware isn’t up to the task.

Luckily, it works well. Very well.
Click to expand...


It’s not all perfect, though. There was some light bleed from under the screen that could be distracting, although you’ll likely not notice it once the game begins. The field of view is also less than perfect, you can see black bars to the left and right of your eyes. It’s not terrible, but when you combine it with the light from the bottom of the screen it can become very clear that you’re not perfectly immersed in the game
Click to expand...

The Move controllers work very well the majority of the time, but in the course of playing the demo the calibration failed enough times to be frustration. It's very strange in virtual reality to feel like your hands in the game are your hands in real life, and that feeling is handled very well, until there is a glitch and your hand jumps five feet in the wrong direction. It takes you completely out of the experience, and can almost make you sick.

The other interesting bit is that Sony showed two demos where you're standing up. They encourage you to bounce up and down, to take a step or two in any direction. The Rift is often demoed as a sit down experience, and Sony seems to be very comfortable having you on your feet, allowing for much more motion.
Click to expand...

The display looks wonderful, the demos were running at 60 frames per second, the screens looked just about as good as the Rift Development Kit 2, and the issues with light bleed and field of view can be fixed with a different fitting around the eyes and a slightly different display.
Click to expand...
 
N

Nafai1123

Banned
I think it's great that we have two competing technologies to directly compare to each other. It's just going to make each company work harder in the areas they are lacking.
 
B

bj00rn_

Banned
Chabbles said:
Hey Carmack, the ocean called, their running out of salt
Click to expand...

There's no.."salt" (can someone please kill this meme..) Carmack is pointing out a fact that is true for every platform trying to run a VR device: VR is more demanding to drive, and more so than most people realize.
 
D

darkwing

Member
impressions are very promising! the prototype model even looks like a commercial one already, can't wait to see what improvements they will make once they will launch it next year
 
A

Amentallica

Unconfirmed Member
Look, I'm ignorant when it comes to what's technologically possible, but I have to ask:

A VR HMD that is essentially a computer but still retains a size similar to this Project Morpheus prototype, that can digitally download games and physically be an all-in-one VR-console.

Possible?
 
C

Clarkus Darkus

Member
The Kotaku vid is well worth a watch as he said it's fine ontop of the glasses he wears, Can see full body movement as he turns, Looks around, Pretty neat.

Im pumped for VR and really am impressed considering it's a prototype.
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
Turin Turambar said:
That's cool as hell.

...

Damn, until we have 4K the graphics will be crappy. Lots of work to be done.

Is the persistence so high in the real DK1? Even turning slowly it shows clearly.
Click to expand...
It's kind of like that, yeah. It's hard to explain where that simulation falls apart really, it's not right, but it gives a good sense of it.

Resolution wise though, on PC you can throw a bunch of super sampling at it if you have the performance. It'd look much better than the 1080p example.
 
C

Chabbles

Member
bj00rn_ said:
There's no.."salt" (can someone please kill this meme..) Carmack is pointing out a fact that is true for every platform trying to run a VR device: VR is more demanding to drive, and more so than most people realize.
Click to expand...

Its a joke, and yeah Carmack is just pointing out the obvious.
 
Q

qa_engineer

Member
I know some truly creative developers out there are going to make some crazy applications for both Rift and Morpheus, whether it be gaming or some other form of entertainment.

Itshappening.gif
 
L

luoapp

Member
How much does a crappy cellphone camera cost? I would like to see them put one in the front of the thing, then just by pushing a button, you can see the outside real world.
 
Refreshment.01

Refreshment.01

Member
Was this runing on actual PS4 hardware?

This is very important because there was a demo of Thief 4, if the visual complexity and IQ fares favorably in relation to the normal version of the game then it is a sign of relief.
 
McHuj

McHuj

Member
Amentallica said:
Look, I'm ignorant when it comes to what's technologically possible, but I have to ask:

A VR HMD that is essentially a computer but still retains a size similar to this Project Morpheus prototype, that can digitally download games and physically be an all-in-one VR-console.

Possible?
Click to expand...

Eventually, yes. I think we're still years away from that though, but someone will get there.

You'll need to fit the CPU/GPU and the power supply/battery somewhere. I imagine a first iteration will have some sort of backpack or something so that you don't have to have those components on your head.
 
A

AbortedWalrusFetus

Member
luoapp said:
How much does a crappy cellphone camera cost? I would like to see them put one in the front of the thing, then just by pushing a button, you can see the outside real world.
Click to expand...

I have been thinking this as well. It would be nice to have a button to show me the real world without having to take the thing off, but it's not super necessary. Sometimes I want to eat some doritos and drink some mountain dew while I game, you know?
 
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