With the
debut of Project Morpheus, Sony touted that virtual reality could play a critical role in the future of gaming. While the viability of VR as a mass market product remains unclear, a hands-on demo today proved that Project Morpheus is much more than just a gimmick for PlayStation. The prototype, though certainly still rough around the edges, meets and in some ways exceeds the kind of VR experiences we've seen from Oculus.
In spite of running off of a PS4 dev kit, the visual fidelity of the viewer is exceptional, and despite the additional load on the system's processing resources, runs smoothly with detailed characters, objects, and environments. The field of view is slightly narrower than the
Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 announced today, which makes the edges of the viewer's frame visible and subsequently less immersive. However, it unquestionably delivers the sensation of "presence" that Sony has so frequently emphasized this week.
In a demo called Deep, I took the role of a diver in a shark-proof cage, slowly descending deeper into the ocean where visibility and light are limited. Armed with a flare gun, I tried to illuminate my surroundings until an operator over the radio alerted me to the presence of a large creature — a great white shark that swam ominously around the cage. Although I was standing in a room with several other people and the roar of the show floor was impossible to drown out, there was a tension created by a life-like limitation in perspective. I had to physically turn around to see what was behind me. I even jumped as the shark raced toward the cage and started chewing it apart.
Due to its use of the PlayStation Camera and PS Move-like LED trackers on both the front and back, Project Morpheus can tell when you lean or bend over, but also can continue tracking even if you turn your back to the camera — a capability currently unavailable for the Rift.
The quality of the hardware was critical to the immersion, but what was more striking was the quality of the software. Unlike the crudely defined worlds of other VR tech demos I've tried over the years, Deep not only took advantage of the tech, but created a life-like interactive experience that really made Project Morpheus shine. The shark may well be the most life-like I've seen in any game. It's skin was detailed and light was cast dynamically upon it as it moved past the shark cage.
For a more traditional gameplay experience, Sony showed of Eve: Valkyrie, which for the unfamiliar, puts players in control of a fighter craft in a large-scale battle in space. As a game borne from the arrival of the Rift, it was a great way to compare against Sony's efforts. Like the original Rift dev kit, Project Morpheus struggles with motion blurring as you look around a world. Though the effect is more limited than Oculus' earlier efforts, it can't quite match the performance of the Rift dev kit 2. Both the Rift and Project Morpheus utilize 1080p displays, which equates to 960x1080 images for each eye. As a result, there are identifiable lines of resolution in the viewer, which somewhat stunts the immersive quality.
One of the most surprising elements of Project Morpheus was how comfortable it was to use. Instead of most of the pressure around your eye sockets, the top-mounted forehead rest and rear frame evenly distribute the weight, so its often tough to tell you're wearing anything at all.
As first introductions go, Project Morpheus was an exceptional experience and makes me hopeful for the types of games Sony and its partners can bring to the PS4. There are still a multitude of questions yet unanswered — like, how much it'll cost, how the experience changes when powering a full retail game, when we might see it come to market, and if a majority of consumers will adopt it — but I'm excited to see what comes next.