Sony announces the next generation VR headset for the PS5 console – PlayStation VR2

Sony has announced the next generation virtual reality system for the PS5 console – PlayStation VR2, and the new VR controller, PlayStation VR2 Sense controller.

This was made known by Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan at the CES 2022.

According to Hideaki Nishino, Senior Vice President, Platform Experience in a blog post, “PlayStation VR2 takes VR gaming to a whole new level, enabling a greater sense of presence and allowing players to escape into game worlds like never before. With the headset on and controllers in hand, players will feel a heightened range of sensations unlike any other – thanks to the creativity of the game worlds being built by our world class developers, and the latest technology incorporated into the hardware.”

The Playstation VR2 replaces its predecessor PS VR and it will work with Sony’s PlayStation 5 console, which it released in late 2020.

The PlayStation VR2 comes with high-fidelity visuals, new sensory features, and enhanced tracking – along with a simplified single-cord setup:

• Visual Fidelity: For a high-fidelity visual experience, PS VR2 offers 4K HDR, 110-degree field of view, and foveated rendering. With an OLED display, players can expect a display resolution of 2000×2040 per eye and smooth frame rates of 90/120Hz.
• Headset-based Controller Tracking: With inside-out tracking, PS VR2 tracks you and your controller through integrated cameras embedded in the VR headset. Your movements and the direction you look at are reflected in-game without the need for an external camera.
• New Sensory Features: PS VR2 Sense Technology combines eye tracking, headset feedback, 3D Audio, and the innovative PS VR2 Sense controller to create an incredibly deep feeling of immersion. Headset feedback is a new sensory feature that amplifies the sensations of in-game actions from the player. It’s created by a single built-in motor with vibrations that add an intelligent tactile element, bringing players closer to the gameplay experience. For example, gamers can feel a character’s elevated pulse during tense moments, the rush of objects passing close to the character’s head, or the thrust of a vehicle as the character speeds forward. Additionally, PS5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech makes sounds in the player’s surroundings come alive, adding to this new level of immersion.
• Eye Tracking: With eye tracking, PS VR2 detects the motion of your eyes, so a simple look in a specific direction can create an additional input for the game character. This allows players to interact more intuitively in new and lifelike ways, allowing for a heightened emotional response and enhanced expression that provide a new level of realism in gaming. 

Hideaki Nishino adds that “All of these advancements in PlayStation VR2, combined with the haptic feedback and adaptive triggers from the PS VR2 Sense controllers, enable players to feel and interact with games in a much more visceral way.”

Though Sony didn’t reveal what its new headset will look like, the company gave an early look at the in-game experience, showing off the trailer for a new game called Horizon: Call of the Mountain.