Playstation VR will use an External VR Processing Box

Playstation VR will use an External VR Processing Box

Playstation VR will use an External VR Processing Box

 

Platstation VR will be coming in the first Half of 2016, the same timeframe as both the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, but Playstation VR was considered a non-starter by many experts given the Playstations relative horespower when compared to PCs and the high computational demands of VR. Now it has been revealed that Sony’s Playstation VR will use and external computational box, which will give the PS4 the horsepower it needs for VR. 

The Playstation VR headset has a maximum refresh rate for 120Hz with a display resolution of 1920×1080, which is 960×1080 for each eye. 

Sony’s External computation box is said the be around the size of a Wii, but at this time we can only guess at the computational horsepower inside of it. This extra boost in graphical horesepower will help Sony create visually appealing experiences with VR, but it will also significantly increase the price of using VR on the Playstation platform, requiring not only the headset itself and a PS4 but also the external processing unit.  

 

 

Sony has already deemed that a stable 60fps is the Minimum required for VR gaming, but is pushing for 90fps to be the Standard for play as even a stable 60FPS can cause users discomfort while using VR.

As Sony says that “Going fast is not optional” when using VR, as a higher framerate and display refresh rate will counteract the side affects of motion sickness and other side effects of using VR. In VR you will notice the disconnect between your movement in real life and your movement in-game, so lowering the delay between action and visual response is crucial, making increasing the framerate a vital step when moving to VR.  

These findings are very similar to the findings of Oculus and HTC/Valve, since both the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive headsets use displays which run at 90Hz, though with such a high refresh rate it can be argued that the PS4 will likely be unable to run many visually demanding games while using VR headsets, especially given how few 1080p 60FPS games that are currently available.

 

Sony pushes for 90FPS as Standard for VR

 

2016 is likely going to be the year that VR finally takes off, with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive finally releasing to consumers. Sony is making great progress with their Playstation VR headset, but right now it is very concerning that they have listed a steady 60 as a minimum, regardless of the fact that the same slide from Sony says that this will cause discomfort to users. 

 

You can join the discussion on Sony’s VR Headset and their VR Computational Box on the OC3D forums.

Â