Next PlayStation VR to be wireless and offer eye tracking
But $250 potential price tag is nothing but 💩
Though we don’t know much about the next PlayStation, the one thing that we do know is that Sony is ensuring you don’t have to restart your collection of games and accessories, thanks to backwards compatibility for both PS4 titles and additional hardware like PSVR. To many, the ability for what’s likely to be called PS5 supporting PSVR meant that a new VR headset isn’t on the horizon. However, patent filing tell a different story. Dale Wilson over at PlayStation Lifestyle:
Inverse previously reported on several patents which were filed by Sony that stated that the alleged new headset will be wireless this time around (so players won’t need to worry about that pesky cord getting in the way while playing), have a battery life of around five hours, cost $250, and support eye-tracking technology. Some of the specs for the headset state that the screen will have 2,560-by-1,440 resolution, a 120-hz refresh rate, and a 220 degree field-of-view as well.
The latest patent, which was published on July 11, 2019, stated that the PlayStation 5’s alleged VR headset will be able to detect the angle of a user’s head using various sensors built right into the headset. Another new feature detailed in the patent is Foveated Rendering. Essentially, this increases the fidelity of the graphics a player is looking directly at, while drastically lowering the resolution of what they are not looking at, using eye tracking. This could allow the headset to run at a more consistent frame rate, providing a more enjoyable experience to the user when playing for both short sessions and extended periods of time.
In short, the next PSVR is going wireless in the same way Oculus Quest has done, something that’s been a big obstacle in VR and has held back adoption. After all, who wants to be tethered by a wire connected to their console when the whole point of VR is escaping your current reality? As for the higher resolution, that’s also to be expected, seeing how PS5 will be more powerful and in turn, have the ability to drive more pixels.
In context of everything that’s happening in the VR space, the above all makes sense. What doesn’t make sense, however, is all the sites reporting on a $250 price tag. Now for all I know, Sony could be targeting that, but each take I’ve read on the next PSVR includes the same statement — that the pricing info (alongside the patent leak) came from a site I’ve never heard of, Inverse, and they claim that
“‘Leaked specs have also revealed the price, claiming that a variant that costs $250"
The problem is, not only do patents have zero to do with product pricing, but that the article from Inverse that claims this leak links to another Inverse article that talks about the ‘leaked’ pricing which then has no sources to go along with it. That article¹ does however link to a Games Radar article that states this info was published to Pastebin² which got the info from an “anonymous author.” 🙄
For context, Oculus Quest costs $399 for the 64GB model and $499 for the 128GB variant. Between now and whenever this headset launches, there’s a lot of time for prices to come down but as it stands, that pricing isn’t remotely in line with the VR industry and I don’t think PlayStation has any plans to sell them at a loss.
So, could PSVR2, or whatever it will be called, cost $250? Maybe, but as of right now, there’s no actual proof that Sony is targeting that price range, nor does pricing info ever get leaked by patents, because at best, they’re a vague blueprint for a product, not internal marketing notes.
¹ I’m actively choosing not to link to it.
² Also never heard of them.
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