Morpheus: Ahead of the Curve?

I read a rather interesting article on Polygon that got me thinking about the increasing competition in the VR space.


The PlayStation 4 is already leading the virtual reality arms race, here's why


Ben Kuchera makes quite a few interesting points. Most notably, he demonstrates that Sony has a leg up on the VR competition in that they have an established infrastructure for supporting the development and distribution of VR.

While Oculus Rift has most of the mind-share at the moment, the product they are hoping to ship will be targeting a platform that has waned in popularity over the past decade. And even with the resurgence in PC gaming, thanks to services like Steam, the technical demands of VR will still keep it out of the hands of a broader, more mainstream audience. It's unlikely that most Rift software will be able to run well on a basic laptop or tablet. I also think that a lot of VR developers are going to begin scaling back their software's graphical expectations in order to reach a wider audience.

HTC and Valve's recently announced headset will likely be one of the highest-performance VR experiences around, but I wouldn't expect it to arrive for anywhere near an affordable price for the average consumer. Especially not with the kind of exotic control systems they're experimenting with. This product is going to start off more as a niche device, possibly pitched towards event spaces and institutions, as well as the hardcore hobbyist community.

Of all the current contenders, the Morpheus stands the best chance of establishing itself early. Its designed to be paired with a home console with substantial rendering power, and a flourishing install base. The camera that is designed to go with it is already on store shelves. An effective 3D control system that could be used with it is already on store shelves. Thanks to the light-bar on the Dual-Shock 4, even the PS4's default control system is optimized to play nice with it. Most of what the Morpheus needs is already developed and ready to go.

I would love to hear any stories of developers who are already working with the Morpheus, and what they think of the experience.

 

Did you read this one already:

http://www.roadtovr.com/sony-morpheus-development-vanguard-v-dev-perspective/

... looks fairly cool to me.

I agree that Project Morpheus is very promising - but on the other hand, the HTC Vive demo apparently really impressed people (see my posting in the other thread). For me, right now, the hurdle for Project Morpheus is PS4 ... so I'll keep on developing for DK2 and as soon as I get the HTC Vive SDK, that'll be my primary platform ... but if/when I do PS4-development, it would certainly (also) be Project Morpheus development. And I could imagine that for another market (AR instead of VR), Hololens might also become a really big thing.

These are probably the most exciting times for realtime-3d artists (and the way I say that it includes programmers ;-) ) EVARRR ;-)

 

Well, the word on the street right now is that Valve and HTC have the "premium" version of VR with the Vive. When they come out with their set-up later this year, (or possibly next year, it is Valve after all) they are going to be shipping the high-end VR solution. It will be very high quality, but it will not be cheap. That is going to make for some really sweet VR, but it will also be out of the range of most consumers.

The Oculus Rift is going to be much more affordable, Oculus is going out of their way to design a consumer-friendly device. The big barrier to entry for the Occulus Rift is how much computer you are going to need to run it. I am imagining that some of the most popular software for the Rift is going to be more stylized experiences that run better on lower-end machines. Desktop systems just aren't as popular or widespread as they used to be.

Sony's big advantage with Morpheus is that a lot of what needs to go along with it is already on store shelves. They don't need to invent a 3D-friendly input device, they already have multiple options for that, and they are already compatible with the PS4.

 

The Sony VR hardware may be good but the PS4 has not enough power for good frame-rate + good graphics and that even on low resolution. Soooo.... no thanks i go with Valve and HTC or Oculus if Valve get it Unity compatible.

 

Possibly, but the same is going to hold true for the Vive and the Rift. With so many people migrating from desktop PCs to laptops and tablets, there is a dearth of processing power in the average home. Sure, the hard-core hobbyist community will be able to put together a superior rig. But the average consumer isn't going to have nearly enough PC processing at home to allow for effective VR. And the larger market is how you really popularize a new technology like this. VR has to be experienced for anyone to understand the real value.

The PS4 might not have the kind of horsepower that a substantial gaming rig would. But it is also a fixed hardware spec, and one with a substantial amount of GDDR5 RAM. I'm confident that capable developers are going to be able to squeeze some decent VR experiences out of it. Not the top-of-the-line kind of experience available on the Vive, but enough to convince some more moderate consumers as to the value of VR.

 

Yes, I think that's important. I've experienced a variety of VR setups with Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2 and they're wildly inconsistent based on what computer hardware you're running. The only "fixed" VR experience I've had is with Gear VR, which gives you a highly tuned and consistent experience, which turns out to be pretty darn cool.

It could very well be that the VR focus on PS4 will be on simpler, more abstract visuals to maintain a very high frame rate. Consistent frame rate is going to be very important for compelling VR experiences and that's one way to achieve that.

 

I believe you are correct. The wiser developers are going to focus on high-performing visuals over high-detail visuals. From the sound of it, dips in frame-rate with VR are a one-stop-trip to vomit-ville. High frame rates and consistent performance are going to be king with VR, and shooting for more stylized visuals that render faster is much better than trying to push realistic visuals and losing your guts.