PlayStation VR: Can it really handle it?

First unveiled in the GDC 2014, according to the devs the product has gone through a lot of changes and at the GDC 2016 it could be seen as an almost finished product. Shipping in the month of October for 400 dollars, one might think that is a lot of money for just the headset but mind you its considerably less than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

According to the CEO when it first launches expect a total of 50 titles to be VR ready some of which would be developed in-house and some by third party studios.

What's in the box and what do you need to make it work?

In the box you'll get the headset (obviously), power cable, a processing box, earphones, dual HDMI connectors and a micro USB cable. Let's not forget the mysterious Black Box. Don't get your hopes high because for 400 dollars is not a complete package. But Hey! atleast you'll get a free game. The PSVR would require a PlayStation Camera to work that isn't included in the box. Furthermore you'll need a set of move controllers also not included in the smaller package. While the move is not mandatory but some games would require it.

Why Move?

Well there are some games that are more complex that don't require move and you can make do with a DualShock controller but some motion sensitive games would require you to buy a move if you don't already have one. Make that a couple, one for each hand. Unveiled back at the era of PlayStation 3 it was basically a half cooked piece of hardware with a few games that required it. It was quite successful but In my opinion I found the Kinect to be more useful. But now the move makes more sense. It feels like the move has finally achieved it's purpose. Alright enough move for today let's move on, Shall We? (Not pun-intended)

How does the PS4 make it work?

Like other VR headsets in the market PSVR will take you in the world of first person virtual reality by producing two images simultaneously. But unlike the Rift and the Vive which requires some serious graphics power to make it work PlayStation say's PS4 can do it for you. Sounds fishy don't you think? Oh don't forget the black box that sit's between the console and the headset. That too and it'll need to be tethered at all times to the console. Yep it ain't wireless, bummer.

Design

Well the PSVR's HMD (Head Mounted Display) houses a team of Black and White matte plastic finishes. At this point you are thinking how does the mandatory PlayStation Eye track your movements? Well the PSVR has 7 blue lights that the eye catches to see what your movements are. Pretty neat. Well that's PSVR for you. Inside the headset we have a 5.7 inch OLED screen with 1920 x RGB x 1080 resolution. On paper that's 960 x 1080 for each eye. The field of view is a 100 degree and refresh rate is 120 Hz. There's also a headphone jack for 3D audio which will come into use later on.

Control Scheme

The PSVR control scheme works as a combination of Head movements and the movements made by the dual shock 4 or move. That's it really.

Performance

The competitors have set a very high bar for what VR experience should feel like and considering that require an immensely powerful PC that costs 2 or even 3 times more than the PSVR. So how come a 400 dollar PS4 can make it work? It doesn't produce the magical 6 TFLOPS like the Project Scorpio. With the two 1080p OLED screens and a refresh rate of 120 Hz, it seems surreal that a old console that outputs just 60 FPS on a single 1080p screen could power a VR. Although games are locked at 30 FPS so there's that. So the big question is what's the catch? Well Sony is going to develop a newer console called the PS4.5 or code named Neo. That'll match the hardware needs of the VR.

Conclusion

It's early to say what the future hold's for PSVR. Previously it was considered that the mysterious black box was buffering the framerates to 120 Hz, which is entirely incorrect. The BlackBox does bring it's features on the table that we'll discuss later. But it's not currently clear if you'll need the upgraded PS4.5 or keep your current PS4. It's not even clear what the consumer version would bring on the table because the PSVR is pretty close to the finish but not quite there yet. So sit back, relax and drool over the idea of GTA V in Virtual Reality.

The Magically Mysterious BlackBox

The BlackBox does bring some features into the table but 120 FPS is not one of them.

• Object Based 3D Audio processing which will add a new level of improved sound by moving the source of the sound according to the position of the wearer's head and how long sounds will last after reflecting from different surfaces just like in the Real World.
• Converts the PS4's usual interface into cinematic mode meaning you can operate the PS4 from within the PSVR.
• Mirror which displays what the user is seeing in the PSVR on your TV screen. 
• If you do use the Mirror Mode the BlackBox will also be responsible for improved visuals because usually the image quality gets downscaled when mirrored from PSVR to TV