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GDC Expo: hands on impressions/media of Project Morpheus (Sony VR)

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
Anyone else a bit moist thinking about playing a VR version of WipeOut using this tech?
 

DieH@rd

Banned
Yup, horizontal movement of head is much more common than vertical. Still, I hope they move over to OLED and just slap ~2ms low-persistence mode on 120hz stream.
 

eot

Banned
thanks for posting this, really cool. Is that the real Mars rover?

It takes anywhere from five to twenty minutes for a signal from Earth to reach Mars, so no. Not that it would have VR support, or be controlled by a DS4, or put in the hands of the public etc.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Game Watch Impress also has an interview with Yoshida:

http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20140321_640750.html

Not as tech orientated. He seems to confirm that Eurogamer reporting that they hesitated to announce this before PS4 was released so as not to blur the messaging.

He's asked what he thinks about Oculus Rift - he says he does not think of them as an enemy, but rather he's grateful, as they helped communicate to people that VR is viable. Both Sony and OR are dealing with the same problems, to prove 'presence' is possible with VR.

Yoshida says it absolutely won't release this year but next year is possible.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
Yup, horizontal movement of head is much more common than vertical. Still, I hope they move over to OLED and just slap ~2ms low-persistence mode on 120hz stream.

Surely a frame packed 1080p stream at 60fps is much more likely.

Yoshida says it absolutely won't release this year but next year is possible.

I wait until this is released before getting a PS4. A nice bundle would be great.
Seems that 2015 is going to be the year of the VR.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
And Eurogamer has a very good interview with Anton Mikhailov

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-03-21-talking-project-morpheus-with-anton-mikhailov

He talks about PS4's ability to drive VR experiences at the required framerates, the requirements of stereo vs mono etc. He's quite bullish about all of that. He notes one or other of the two SCE demos for Morpheus are actually running >1080p.

The field of view discussion is also interesting, and makes me wonder if some people's perception of a narrower field of view was because they adjusted to use a higher eye relief, with glasses etc.

Talks about Move too, whether they would refresh it for PS4/VR, nausea etc
 
I just wonder how they'll make it safe for those folks with epilepsy.
You need higher display refresh rates, like above 100Hz, and avoid bright flashing objects in-game.
40-70 Hz low persistence flicker is especially bad for "sensitive" people, even if it isn't visually perceptible.

Cells in the brain do not fire constantly in response to stimulus features; rather, they exhibit rhythmic patterns of firing at frequencies between 40-70 Hz.

Low-frequency flicker may add extra noise to the neural activity. This noise, which has the same temporal code as the signal to be interpreted, may inhibit object or form identification by interfering with the integration of neural responses from the various neurons that respond to the specific stimulus features. The additional synchronous neural activity (noise) would therefore impede stimulus recognition, especially if the object is difficult to see, or is near threshold.
Evoked potentials and electroretinogram (ERG) responses above the levels of perceptual CFF have been detected in response to luminous modulation.
Rhythmic potentials in the human ERG can be elicited by fluorescent lighting at frequencies as high as 147 Hz
http://web.mit.edu/parmstr/Public/NRCan/nrcc38944.pdf
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
Anyone else a bit moist thinking about playing a VR version of WipeOut using this tech?

I really wouldn't be ready for that. Sensory overload. Too good.

I personally envision these VR experiences with some more relaxing games.

A spacesim with dozens of gorgeous planets and galactic systems to discover, mine and explore.
A full free-look view of your own upgradeable and customizable cockpit and dozens of friendly players around.
Firing photon lasers at alien bandits, trading, questing, exploring.

Also important would be the extremely accurate ambient space sounds. An old beach boys mixtape playing through the tinny cockpit speakers combined with the low humming of my twin ion engines, hurtling through deep space.

I want that. I want to be a space cowboy.
 

kyser73

Member
Anyone else a bit moist thinking about playing a VR version of WipeOut using this tech?

Yes but only the zone modes - I reckon too much off-track detail would be the overwhelming/nausea inducing aspect. It would be interesting to see if that's the problem Yosp was talking about in the racing game they tried.
 
You need higher display refresh rates, like above 100Hz, and avoid bright flashing objects in-game.
40-70 Hz low persistence flicker is especially bad for "sensitive" people, even if it isn't visually perceptible.



http://web.mit.edu/parmstr/Public/NRCan/nrcc38944.pdf
Interesting, thanks.

I really wouldn't be ready for that. Sensory overload. Too good.

I personally envision these VR experiences with some more relaxing games.

A spacesim with dozens of gorgeous planets and galactic systems to discover, mine and explore.
A full free-look view of your own upgradeable and customizable cockpit and dozens of friendly players around.
Firing photon lasers at alien bandits, trading, questing, exploring.

Also important would be the extremely accurate ambient space sounds. An old beach boys mixtape playing through the tinny cockpit speakers combined with the low humming of my twin ion engines, hurtling through deep space.

I want that. I want to be a space cowboy.
Drooling at the prospect there.
 

StuBurns

Banned
Going to a horizontal refreshing display makes me wonder if you could choose which way to display it. If the person is moving their head left to right, can the display flip and draw accommodate that?
 

RalchAC

Member
I really wouldn't be ready for that. Sensory overload. Too good.

I personally envision these VR experiences with some more relaxing games.

A spacesim with dozens of gorgeous planets and galactic systems to discover, mine and explore.
A full free-look view of your own upgradeable and customizable cockpit and dozens of friendly players around.
Firing photon lasers at alien bandits, trading, questing, exploring.

Also important would be the extremely accurate ambient space sounds. An old beach boys mixtape playing through the tinny cockpit speakers combined with the low humming of my twin ion engines, hurtling through deep space.

I want that. I want to be a space cowboy.

No Man's Sky VR would be absolutely amazing. It has the part about exploring the galaxy, I dunno about being a cowboy.
 
It's the same for me. I'm also unable to get dat ASMR effect apparently.

I just did it again and it works.

Give this a go and see if it works for you:-

Turn the volume up a bit.

Close your eyes and concentrate following the sound.

After a cheap set of headphones worked, I tried some better ones (open headphones I think) and it went up another level.
 

fasTRapid

Banned
I just did it again and it works.

Give this a go and see if it works for you:-

Turn the volume up a bit.

Close your eyes and concentrate following the sound.

After a cheap set of headphones worked, I tried some better ones (open headphones I think) and it went up another level.

no link?
 

Man

Member
So what is causing reported bluring? Interpolation or Sony not even bothering to use low-persistence mode in this first prototype [8.3ms per frame for Morpheus vs 2/3ms for DK2]?
I think that is basically it.
It's reassuring that they recognized the importance of low persistence in the speech early on saying they have a lot of experience in that area. The final unit could be a LCD with strobing backlight (creating low-persistence) combined with interpolation to pick up the game-engine slack and keep the motion locked to 120hz.

I'm not sure how big the difference the price between a 5" 1080p OLED screen is vs a 5" 1080p LCD these days.
 

StuBurns

Banned
I actually have a tinfoil hat style theory that Sony's R&D don't want LCD at all, and were hoping the online community would shit the bed so they could use it as evidence they need the extra target budget to allow for OLED.
 
The motion interpolation stuff is pretty cool. I'd wondered if they could steal some of that stuff from the TV guys, but I wasn't sure if it'd be applicable here.

Okay, I gotta ask, are my posts too long, or what? Nobody has any thoughts at all WRT online interactions strengthening presence? Or being able to alter reality as easily as you can wave your hands?
 

FleetFeet

Member
The motion interpolation stuff is pretty cool. I'd wondered if they could steal some of that stuff from the TV guys, but I wasn't sure if it'd be applicable here.

Okay, I gotta ask, are my posts too long, or what? Nobody has any thoughts at all WRT online interactions strengthening presence? Or being able to alter reality as easily as you can wave your hands?

I think your posts are great and quite informative, actually... and I share your enthusiasm in VR, so keep to posts coming lol.

It will help immensely in giving life to virtual objects that would otherwise feel off if it were just AI.

I believe it was in the Engadget interview where Dr. Marks said even a game like the Sims could work with VR... or another example that has been made in the past is of games where the player is playing "God", creating the world around him.

So I was thinking how great a Roller Coaster Tycoon type game would be for VR... after creating your park, you can have it available online for the world to visit, where you can walk around with your friends and experience the park, and all the custom built roller coasters like with the Rift roller coaster demo.

It would mostly be populated by AI to give it a proper atmosphere, but the whole point is to take in this experience with your friends or family... so the interaction would be no different if you and your friends were actually out at the park on a Saturday afternoon, except in this world, you can travel to any park at anytime. There can even be real world amusement parks authentically replicated in the game, so getting the chance to visit every single Disney park or Six Flags in a day would be beyond epic proportions.

Just thinking about walking with my friends around this unknown, but magical world that was created in someones mind and seen only thru the virtual landscape just gets me so excited for the future of VR... just imagine walking into a forest themed section of a park, its somewhat dark, and ahead is a track that hangs preciously close above the walking path, and as you begin to walk underneath, suddenly from out the trees a roller coaster goes flying over your head, with the roar of the wheels and squeals of the people onboard.

Oh so good...
 

Socky

Member
I really wouldn't be ready for that. Sensory overload. Too good.

I personally envision these VR experiences with some more relaxing games.

A spacesim with dozens of gorgeous planets and galactic systems to discover, mine and explore.
A full free-look view of your own upgradeable and customizable cockpit and dozens of friendly players around.
Firing photon lasers at alien bandits, trading, questing, exploring.

Also important would be the extremely accurate ambient space sounds. An old beach boys mixtape playing through the tinny cockpit speakers combined with the low humming of my twin ion engines, hurtling through deep space.

I want that. I want to be a space cowboy.

No Man's Sky VR would be absolutely amazing. It has the part about exploring the galaxy, I dunno about being a cowboy.

You guys saw this, right?

m2KXqxf.png


https://twitter.com/NoMansSky/status/446408671795609600

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=787718

HYPE.
 
I guess sony sold some devs on Morpheus at GDC. I know Shahid said some indies already have been working on Morpheus, but it looks like more devs will dive in.

http://www.roadtovr.com/sony-project-morpheus-dev-kits-delivered-early-june/

At GDC 2014 Road to VR has learned that Sony Project Morpheus dev kits could be delivered to third-party devs as early as June this year.


A trusted source has confirmed that dev kits for Project Morpheus, Sony’s PS4 VR headset, could be delivered as early as June, one month before the expected delivery of the Oculus Rift DK2. The information came to the source directly from Sony.

sony-morpheus-ps4-vr-disclaimer-text.jpg
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Wondering whether Sony intends to be first to market. Although they say it is a proto, it looks pretty well designed, and they might be in a decent position to react to any moves by oculus - they'll want as long as possible to iron out any kinks though - especially if they can switch to a low persistence OLED panel
 

Man

Member
I think Richard Marks said they could start delivering kits as early as April actually.

And for the nth time: That's very sexy hardware. They nailed the look on their first attempt.
 

Mr.Green

Member
At GDC 2014 Road to VR has learned that Sony Project Morpheus dev kits could be delivered to third-party devs as early as June this year.

I think Richard Marks said they could start delivering kits as early as April actually.

And for the nth time: That's very sexy hardware. They nailed the look on their first attempt.

Yep. That was in the Engadget interview and if I recall correctly it's Yoshida who said that.
 

cebri.one

Member
Someone posted this link to a binaural audio demo yesterday... I was truly blown away by this, especially considering this can be done with ANY stereo headphones. I would shut my eyes, and I would have the weirdest feeling having this matchbox shake around my head like it is really there... Sony isn't kidding when they mean audio will seal the deal.

You have to use headphones...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HprNPCRyP40

The most amazing thing about this type of demos is how, just using sounds, it can trick your mind in way that you could also feel the air coming from the hair dryer.
 

Josman

Member
Well done binaural audio is just incredible, I was listening to some demos on youtube and this one came up:
http://youtu.be/IUDTlvagjJA

I hope every VR game adopts this, and that Sony increases the FOV to 110 degrees and fixes the complaints about users being able to see the floor with the headset on.
 
I actually have a tinfoil hat style theory that Sony's R&D don't want LCD at all, and were hoping the online community would shit the bed so they could use it as evidence they need the extra target budget to allow for OLED.
Well there is precedence that Sony don't like being one-upped by the competition, the last minute 8gig bombshell from last year goes to show that not everything is cast in stone. If Occulus use a oled and is seen as a significant improvement, I can see Sony's hardware pride kicking in not wanting to be out done.
 
Any solid info about what that little "sensor" between the lenses is for? I recall reading it might be for detecting if the headset is being worn. Is that correct?

I wonder the same thing, it couldn't be that they already included some crude form of eyetracking right?
 
I believe it was in the Engadget interview where Dr. Marks said even a game like the Sims could work with VR... or another example that has been made in the past is of games where the player is playing "God", creating the world around him.
Totally. Sony touched on it in the presentation, but people seem to be a bit limited in their thinking of what can be done in VR. Imagine you're in someone's basement, looking at one of those elaborate model train setups. Now imagine everything in the scene has come to life. Being god-sized, you can still move everything around as you see fit, add new buildings, smite those who would displease you, etc. Now you're playing Railroad Tycoon, flying around the map to wherever you're needed.

So I was thinking how great a Roller Coaster Tycoon type game would be for VR... after creating your park, you can have it available online for the world to visit, where you can walk around with your friends and experience the park, and all the custom built roller coasters like with the Rift roller coaster demo.

It would mostly be populated by AI to give it a proper atmosphere, but the whole point is to take in this experience with your friends or family... so the interaction would be no different if you and your friends were actually out at the park on a Saturday afternoon, except in this world, you can travel to any park at anytime. There can even be real world amusement parks authentically replicated in the game, so getting the chance to visit every single Disney park or Six Flags in a day would be beyond epic proportions.
That's why I was thinking Home could become popular. It's a good place to meet up with your friends, and Virtual EPCOT is just one of the many places you can visit from there. Not only could you visit virtual Maui and the Moon, as people have been saying, you could also take a tour of Monsters University. Hell, you could attend Monster University, the new animation school created by Pixar.
 
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