Introducing Project Morpheus

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Introducing Project Morpheus

Greetings from GDC 2014! Earlier this evening, I had the pleasure to introduce Project Morpheus, SCE’s prototype virtual reality (VR) system that works with PS4. Virtual reality is the next innovation from SCE that we believe will shape the future of games.

Project Morpheus - PS4

I have long dreamed about VR and the possibilities it brings in regards to game development. This new technology will deliver a sense of presence, where you as the player actually feel like you’re inside the game and your emotions feel that much more real.

Our current prototype for Project Morpheus features a head mounted display with 1080p resolution and a 90 degree field of view. Accelerometer and gyroscope sensors built into the head mounted unit as well as PlayStation Camera accurately tracks head orientation and movement, so as your head rotates, the image of the virtual world rotates intuitively in real-time. Project Morpheus also features our new 3D audio technology that re-creates stereoscopic sounds in all directions and changes in real-time depending on your head orientation. In addition to PlayStation Camera, Project Morpheus works with DUALSHOCK 4 Wireless Controller and PlayStation Move to deliver an easy-to-use, plug-and-play VR experience.

The prototype for Project Morpheus is the culmination of our work over the last 3+ years as we’ve refined our vision for VR. This prototype will serve as the first development kit for PS4 developers that are as enthusiastic about this new medium as we are.

At GDC 2014 this week, attendees will be able to check out Project Morpheus in action at the SCEA booth through a handful of technology demos.

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578 Comments

  • This could be big! Do you have plans for this to be used outside hardcore gaming like education! Surgeon simulation! Learning new languages virtually! The possibilities are endless! Kudos to you and your team for developing this innovation!

  • don’t care about price, i am there on day 1!

  • Thanks, any effort on VR is welcome.

  • If there is a decent game for this before 2018 I’ll be surprised. Hell, if there is a decent game for this before the PS5 I’ll be impressed.

    Prove me wrong Sony. Please. Seriously, I’m asking nicely.

  • this is a great idea ..i hope there arent too small of a game list for this id like to play fighting games in VR. 3 thumbs up :)

  • Will be watching how this project goes forward with a big interest. I think this could be so cool ^^
    Hopefully it can be used with eyeglasses though :)

  • Is there some kind of Kickass future 3D tech to these going into these puppies? Can we still use with headphones?

  • I really hope sony supports this with quality games, there is so much potential for vr. It’s not a gimmick like 3D because 3D doesn’t actually improve the gaming experience, this would improve the gaming experience tremendously.

  • Is it gonna have a light so it will work with the camera.

  • Ok you’ve been working on this for 3 years and are only now showcasing a Dev unit. Have you got any idea how much of a tease this is for everyone who has invested money and time in the Playstation ideals of gaming? Don’t dangle a carrot and treat us like fools, give us at least some idea of WHEN we can expect to get our hands on it please! Cost is secondary to the knowledge of when we can buy it! We already know Devs are already working on releases to work with the headset so you must have a pretty good idea of a release date. Please don’t leave us hanging. Can you tell I want it now :-)

  • Shu Yoshida is the PS4 camara required or the PS3 eye camera?

  • All i have to say about this is… Sword Art Online. Please… watch this, and make sure this cannot happen >.< also think about how you could hae that made. that would make sony number 1

  • It’s quite interesting but I’m not sure if I would like it. I’ll have to use it before I pass any judgment. I am very interested to see what it feels like to play with it on.

  • is there going to be a beta testing?

  • Sir, When will be this available in Europe?
    I was planning to buy 3D personal viewer H3, how different are the two devices and will morpheus support 3D?
    and why game developers are not making 3D games anymore? it is supposed to look great on PS4..

  • this could mean valkyrie on PS4! EVE VALKYRIE!!! c’mon CCP just give it to me…

  • This news made my day yesterday. Ever since I read it a little before lunch, I couldn’t think about anything else. Can’t wait to be Kratos or Nathan Drake.

    Can’t wait to see what games I will be able to use with this and move. I want some good games for both. I hope Media Molecule has a truly unique project to go with this and PS Move like they showed at the PS4 announcement last year.

  • 1080p each eye?

  • My first experience with VR was in 1992 on an old Virtuality unit. I never forgot that experience. I now have the Oculus Dev Kit 1, pre-ordered the Oculus Dev Kit 2 today, and also own one of the old Virtuality SU2000 units. I can’t believe VR is finally happening. Thank you so much Sony for being a part of helping VR become a reality. This is a definite pre-order for me as soon as it becomes available.

  • Really exciting. :3 Deep sounds awesome.

  • When Sony first started talking about the 3D headset they were looking to release back in 2009, I got excited, mainly because I wanted to experience Demon’s Souls in 3D. However, I was bummed about the fact that it was only a 720p resolution display. Granted, at the time, it didn’t particularly matter since that was the standard resolution for PS3 games, but when it was released I decided not to buy it because I knew it was only a matter of time until a 1080p version would be made.

    Fast forward to E3 2013, and Sony announcing oculus rift support, I thought that was nice, but wondered why you weren’t using your own tech for VR applications. Suffice to say, I look forward to this, and I look forward to playing some of my favorite games like the Souls series and inFamous with such a device. Here’s hoping a Q3 release for this.

    Also, thank you, Sony, for the Z1s. It’s a fantastic device.

  • I’m a definite buyer, but I have just one question to ask. Will the Project Morpheus have a mute button to make the followers of the Oculus Rift to shut up? In other words, will the Project Morpheus convince these guys to convert to “Morphianity”?

  • Can’t wait. Hey Shu, I will test it for you guys! I have been loyal supporter since the PS1 days. P

  • I really liked the design. Please release it here in Brazil, but by a fair price, so you would sell for much more people here! :)

  • What a beautiful device!! I’ll be getting one for sure now! You guys are doing such a great job with the PS ecosystem and the industrial designs are top notch! keep it up and THANK YOU for the great business ethics and for treating the fans and consumers right!!! “(^-^)>

  • Can you try your best to make it like sword art online dont care how long it will take you I’m getting it

  • interesting!!! but i guess this will be somehow limited right? it will only work for fps games…. anyway this is amazing good work sony!!! but i’ll still keep my eye to a device even more futuristic than this one!!! that hopefully sony will be the one to do it. which is the full VR console a head gear!!! something to actually places us inside the game something like we see in the anime Sword Art Online…. i think sony will menage to do it someday!!!

  • Hey, I’ve Been waiting for something like this for years. Is there any video footage of this beaing used ( Great Work, Hopefully its works as good as it sounds)

  • hey are you guys looking for any beta tester or tester for anything i would love to work for sony it my dream u

  • oh and also how is this vr helmet going to play out say are u going to have to walk around with it not to be a jerk or anything but i dont get how u would walk around your house with it on and not trip over anything or knock somthing down and is it wirless also will it work for massive mmorpgs like dc universe or cod. thanks for reading my comment an sorry its really long i have alot of questions to ask u guys .ps keep up the amazing work u guys rock

  • I’m hoping this can work with non Morpheus developed content. Like say a normal 2d game just appears to be a projected giant screen in front of you. Hope we can watch blu ray with this also. I feel it needs both of the above or it will be a no buy from me, even with how great of an experience it seems to be. That 3d sound tec sounds amazing, how does that work?

  • Would Universities be able to attain a prototype to test and experiment with? I would love to use this in my research before I finish my masters.

  • I´ve been dreaming about this since I was a little boy.

  • dude…. its happening… im so happy to be a gamer T-T

  • Playstation should take gaming to the next level already
    take SWORD ART ONLINE as the best example there is.
    that is what Play Station should be working on….

  • A great and promising project, I’ve already post info about it on my blog.
    Please, make vídeos about the project and how it works.
    http://www.albergames.com/2014/03/project-morpheus-sony.html (in brazilian portuguese)

  • Wow! Sony has been doing sooo much sooo right lately. Revealing this and being so ahead of the curve is just another step in their absolute domination. I can’t wait to get my face all up in this thing!

  • is it possible to create a VR helmet that can connect to your central nerves and paralyze your body while you are in a game so that you yourself are in the game using an avatar body?

  • The only negative if you can call it that is Sony will not comment on any release dates to the public,which I can only assume this to mean it’s way off for us gamers to be buying it,i’m thinking it will be at least a couple of years off as of yet because the devs haven’t even gotten it yet so that means there isn’t many if any games being made for it just yet,there again I could be wrong which I hope I am,but I very much doubt it as it is just a prototype . ;-(

    I’m bang into gaming and game every day but I have another hobby which is RC (remote Control) planes,quad copters,Helicopters and so on,i also do FPV (first person view) and would love to see these work with my FPV set ups like my fat shark goggles,this would take FPV to yet another level but I doubt it,even so I can dream can’t I lol.

  • Having owning the original model of the PSX I am really impressed to see this, Video games have come a long way and it is brilliant to see sony coming up with ideas to benefit their customers. As far as in concerned, if you improve the FOV to that of a certain other Virtual reality headset, you have my money. Thanks Mr. Yoshida :) .

  • Wow i always said that Sony is best in games console but now all i got to say is just you guys are the number one in the whole wide world i would love to have one when it comes out i would even be happy just to try it out even with a demo game even if its still a prototype i dont care gotta have one thank you sony and great thanks to you Shu Yoshida

  • Ive been telling my friends for years that Sony needed to make a PSV Playstation Virtual lol i knew it would happen eventually im so stoked. Will there be guns and things for it similar to ones on the Playstation move for the PS3?

  • looks great but so did the hmz T1,T2,T3……that never sold in the us market.
    same with the UMPC,betamax,sony phones,sony minipc,and vaio Z.
    you need to get the price right or it doomed and vendors wont sign on.
    you also need to get the media like movies,music,shows on playstation network under one fee like playstaion plus.
    I love sony style but I know the us market well and this is why you cant make inroads here and you need to fix the yen and get this price around 500 usd or it be for nothing.
    if you cant do this then you waste everyone time because no family will buy it and it be another Betamax.

  • NICE !

    I WANT TO SEE AN ELDER SCROLLS ON MORPHEUS PLEASE SONY !!!!!!

  • Hi Shu!

    Wow, what an exciting time to be a PlayStation gamer :-)

    Very interested to see how this VR system is received by the development community and how it evolves into a final product we can all own someday.

    To that end, if the rumor is true that you folks are debating a scaled back but more affordable version vs. a more technologically advanced and thus expensive version I suggest the latter (if we can’t have both ;-). This sounds like a truly groundbreaking experience and I think people will realize that comes at an appropriate price. $499 sounds completely reasonable to me if it means a higher framerate, lower latency, and more comfort.

  • Mr Yoshida, I’m really excited about the VR headset and I’m certainly looking forward for it. But I worry that too much emphasis on the VR R&D will impact quantity and quality of traditional games from first party studios. I really hope that’s not the case…

  • willing to beta test :)

  • i can wait to see this in action in the future and too pricey

  • While I love all the PlayStation products that are on the market today, an I am genuinely intrigued by this product. I am concerned that the lack of support for PlayStation peripherals that have been released in the past may affect how well the public welcomes this product.
    Yes, there is more than a handful of games for the PS Move, but many of the ones I have tried lack the updates that could allow them to work properly(e.g. Eye pets, Resident Evil:chronicles, NBA 2k12). Also Wonderbook, PS Vita, 3D games support.
    Sure I get it is not all on Sony to fix these games, however as a consumer I feel like I got less than what was represented to me when the products were released.
    As a result from the past performances of these other products I am a little hesitant about buying into another device that may just end up collecting dust due to lack of support.

  • On a side note: I would really like to see Vita TV in North America along with an updated Ad-hoc Party to support the Ad-hoc Vita games, both on PS3, Vita TV, and possibly PS4. I know Its not going to produce the kinds of profits that COD does, but It would still help sell some portable games. As well as allow Vita owners to enjoy all the content that comes in the Vita games.

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