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Everything You Need to Know About the Next-Gen Sony PSVR 2
The PlayStation VR 2 is official, and it’s coming out soon. If you’re a fan of the original PSVR you are going to love the second iteration, featuring massive improvements over the OG model.
So get a snack ready because I’m going to tell you what exactly to expect with PSVR 2.
The original PSVR was introduced back in 2016 and sold over 5 million units from February 2017 to January 2020. Even though it is indeed fun, we cannot hide the fact that it does have some pretty major drawbacks, and those are in terms of tracking, resolution, and ease of use.
So let’s go through each of these and see how the PSVR2 will improve on them.
Photo credit: GPA Photo Archive https://www.flickr.com/photos/iip-photo-archive/37695674255
Tracking
Starting with the tracking, the original PSVR used a very strange system. The VR headset itself had lights all around it with the controllers also featuring an awkward big ball of light on them.
The PlayStation camera would then see those lights and track your movement.
However, this type of tracking had some major issues. For example, you needed to be in a fairly dim-lit room for it to work effectively. Otherwise, if there was a lot of ambient light the PlayStation camera would not be able to correctly see the lights on the headset or the controller, resulting in poor gameplay and imprecise control at best, and at worst, lack of tracking altogether.
The Camera
The next issue was that the camera couldn’t track fast movements. This made games like Beat Saber more difficult to play on the PSVR, especially when compared to something like an Oculus Quest which had much more advanced tracking (at the time).
How is Sony planning to fix these issues with the PSVR 2?
Turns out, Sony has some tricks up its sleeve.
Cameras: Improved tracking and pattern recognition
Sony does have several prototypes leaked on this which shows that the headset would have its cameras. What this means is that the tracking will be done entirely by the headset rather than requiring a separate device like the PlayStation camera.
Controllers: So what about the controllers then?
Sony has unveiled the controllers and this is how they look.
They have a very different design as compared to the original ones, which (unbeknownst to many) were originally not even designed for the PSVR, but rather for the PlayStation move instead.
The PSVR 2 controllers have a circle that goes around them which has a very important purpose which is to house the inferred lights.
The second thing that this new design fixes is the fast movements.
The movement won’t be a problem at all anymore given this new tracking system.
The PSVR 2 controller also has some nice new tricks up its sleeve that no one of the other VR controllers do.
- Adaptive Triggers
So just like the PS 5 dual sense controller, the PSVR 2 controller supports different tension levels in the R2 and L2 triggers. This is super immersive for when you’re shooting a gun or a bow as it gives you the immersion that you’re using that weapon in real life.
- Haptic Feedback
Which also just like the PS 5 dual sense controller, you will be able to feel elements from your game in the real world. It works remarkably well on the PS 5 therefore in VR it will be even more immersive.
- Touch Detection
These controllers can detect your fingers while they’re resting on the buttons, this means that you don’t have to press a button for it to detect your finger. You can just leave it there, and it will detect pretty much like a capacitive touchscreen works.
Photo credit: lain https://www.flickr.com/photos/iainstars/31100256215
Fun Fact: This is something that we already have on the Oculus Quest so as you can tell the PSVR2 controllers are a massive departure from what they have now.
Aside from tracking, the second issue that we had with the first PSVR was the resolution, which was only 960 by 1080 pixels per eye. The Oculus Quest 2 for example has 1832 by 920 per eye which is 3.4 times sharper than the PSVR.
Sony hasn’t said anything about how much the resolution will be increased, but they have said, ” Next-gen VR system that enhances everything from resolution and field of view to tracking and input.”
Something else that Sony will improve on the PSVR2 is the field of view.
Currently, the PSVR1 boasts a 100-degree field of view, which is higher than the 90 field of view on the Oculus Quest 2.
Ease of Use
And finally, the third big issue of the PSVR1 was the ease of use or the lack thereof.
Everything was a pain and you ended up with a jungle of cables.
Now I have good news and bad news. The good news is that PSVR2 won’t have as many cables as the PSVR1. Sony confirmed that the PSVR2 will be a very easy single-cord setup. This single cord setup seems to be the closest we’ll get to any more technical details at this stage.
The bad news is that it will still have cables, so it won’t be wireless. Even though Sony does have plenty of patterns that show wireless versions of the PSVR2. Sony has confirmed that it will indeed have a cable.
These are the key updates that are confirmed by Sony, there’s no news on what games this new headset could launch with though.
As for the release date here’s what Hideaki Nishino Senior Vice President at Sony Interactive Entertainment said, “There’s still a lot of development underway for our new VR system, so it won’t be launching in 2022.”
Final Thoughts on The Upcoming PlayStation VR2
As the Oculus Quest, 2 has now become the best VR option on the market for the majority of people at least. It seems that PSVR2 will be aiming to deliver breathtaking visuals and extreme realism.
Question: What PSVR 2 games would you like to see? Let us know in the comments.
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