Sony next-gen PlayStation5 VR 120Hz 4K oled hmd (=PSVR2) - can now be used for PCVR too!

Photos of the new hmd just arrived:

More info here:

uploadvr.com/psvr-2-headset-design-revealed/

I really dislike white hmds, but with the white PS5 design, I guess this was to expect.

Cons:
No headphones
It's white
Inferior inside-out tracking

Pros:

High-res oled

Foveated rendering

Feeds of a very fast PS5 gpu (especially if foveated rendering really works)
Sony quality - probably very high QA and QC

Next-gen VR gaming - maybe even better than PCVR

Let's see if Sony does not come up with some great headphones for the hmd... Also nearly impossible to evaluate something you can't test or buy. 

As far as inferior inside out tracking is concerned. I have Index + lighthouse, Oculus and WMR tracking. If the PSVR tracking is as good as Quest's I'm sold. I find Quest's inside out to be on par with Index controllers. Only once did I find it not ready when the original Quest first launched. I couldn't find that button on the side of the head in Lone Eco. That has since been fixed. 

 A legit concern though because WMR and Cosmos inside out was such a mess. If the PSVR inside out tracking is as good as Oculus's I'm all for it. Especially if it has the haptics of the standard controller.

I have a strong feeling that most PSVR gen 1 games will be available at launch. I seen a video about a month ago about Sony and Steam negotiating. Possibly Steam games available with PSVR. Nothing is certain yet but Sony PSVR is sure looking good from here.

 I don't ever intend on giving up PC or mobile VR. I hear the next gen video cards are going to be substantially more powerful than current gen for both NVidia and AMD. The 4070 is said to be as fast if not faster than the 3090, AMD's RNDA3 and Intel's plans are also exciting. Ethereum miners being jettisoned as proof of work is replaced with proof of stake this year. With all that I don't think a GPU shortage can be a reason that quality PCVR games are not being made this time next year. 

 I'm not hunting down a PS5 just yet, but this time next year, I think it will be more clear cut where the good content is and where PSVR and PCVR is going.

PSVR2 is expected to cost about $400 - but will need a PS5 too, and currently these sell for about $900, at least at Walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/browse/playstation-5/all-playstation-consoles/2636_3475115_4589517

So that's $1,300 in total for PSVR2 - it may not exactly be any kind of cheap VR solution, but maybe that's a great thing, as few kids and teenagers will be able to afford PS5 + PSVR2. It may on the other hand limit adoption, interesting how that will go - if PSVR2 won't be another paper launch... 

Forgot to post this yesterday, but seems we won't be getting PSVR2 before 2023 - so maybe in about a year... 

https://www.roadtovr.com/report-psvr-2-rumored-release-early-2023-missing-holiday-season/

So I still have time to finish Chronos! 🤗 😁

Close to Breaking News, but if Sony can gain nearly 4 times more speed using foveated rendering, this would give the PS5 (foveated rendering) close to similar performance as the RTX 3090 (normal rendering):

https://uploadvr.com/psvr-2-eye-tracking-foveated-rendering-gdc/

This trailer arrived yesterday - I think it's about the most awesome trailer for a VR experience I've ever seen. Looks much better than both Lone Echo and Alyx - but trailers can fool the audience, of course we need to see some reviews of the final game, and that may not happen before 2023:

The game really looks miles ahead of the best VR experiences I've had so far - but I do love alien planets + jungle + big robots etc. Kinda looks like Stormland on ultra-steroids, lol. And I do love Stormland. 

Not going to buy a PS5 before PSVR2 has arrived - and maybe I'll wait for Horizon VR too....

These games will get PSVR2 support too:

Strange that Sony chooses to make an ultra-high-end VR version of Resident Evil 4 - this is the Quest 2 version in comparison:

Btw, some more trailers for PSVR2 games, but they'll be (or are) on Steam too:

UploadVR just posted about all known and rumored PSVR2 titles:

https://uploadvr.com/psvr-2-games-every-announced-rumored-project/

I do think my next hmd will be from Sony, oled + 4k res + amazing high-end VR content sound beyond awesome. Foveated rendering may provide a level of performance close to RTX 3080 levels - or even better. 

New trailer for one of the first PSVR2 games has arrived:

There seems to be great high-res dynamic shadows, which is essential for immersion in games where you operate in the dark:

Dynamic shadows for the fingers shown here

- and the most important, this game supports both eye tracking, HDR and foveated rendering, it does look better than the average PCVR game to me, or looks like same quality as a great PCVR game - but the trailer is very short, would like to see more. 

I put some red circles around eye tracking and foveated rendering, 4K HDR is new stuff too

Using oled, PSVR2 should much better than lcd at dark games too, I still greatly prefer the good old Rift CV1 for the very dark games. 

Eye tracking is of course only important when backed by foveated rendering. This way the foveated rendering gets focused on where you look, which is essential - according to Sony, foveated rendering increases frames per second by a factor of 3-4, possible making the PS5 faster than a RTX 3090 😉 Well, we'll see about that when the first reviews arrive. 

Eye tracking and foveated rendering were features I hoped to see in a Rift CV2, interesting if Sony will be the very first to successfully deliver that tech.

Varjo Aero has foveated rendering too, but game devs need to support that themselves, and so far nearly no game supports Aero's foveated rendering and probably never will. Sony actively supporting many new VR games can ensure that all PSVR2 games fully support eye tracking and foveated rendering - a giant difference to Varjo's situation with the Aero. 

An ultra-high-end version of Star Wars: Tales for the Galaxy's Edge has just been announced - taking advantage of all the power of the PS5 (and foveated rendering with eye tracking):

The old Quest trailer in comparison:

The visual difference is massive as the Quest version does not include realtime lightning and dynamic shadows - and the poly levels and textures seem much better in the PSVR2 version too:

PSVR2 image quality - note the lighting and shadows (the character casts dynamic shadows on himself):

- and this is the ultra-trimmed Quest version - no dynamic lighting at all, and looks much more low-res:

This was the one that got away for PCVR, but seems there's now hope to experience this game in all its glory. According to the devs:

"Utilizing all tech that the PS VR2 has to offer, the game pushes what’s possible with VR to immerse you within the world of Star Wars like never before. The high-fidelity visual experience will include headset-based controller tracking and eye tracking ensuring that your movements and direction you look are reflected as you play.

The audio and haptics also play a major role in the experience, where you’ll be able to hear the soundscape surround you with rich 3D audio and feel even the smallest detail with the haptics built into the PS VR2 Sense controller and headset. Combining all the sensory features that the PS VR2 has to offer, the experience will make you feel as though you are living within the Star Wars galaxy."

More info here: 

https://blog.playstation.com/2022/09/13/become-a-hero-on-playstation-vr2-in-star-wars-tales-from-the-galaxys-edge-enhanced-edition/

Seems I better order that PSVR2 soon, but I'm old fashioned and would normally like some PSVR2 reviews first. Also the PSVR2 hmd does not include headphones like the Rift CV1 and Index - I have a great issue with that. And then there's the inside-out tracking, I'm really not into that too - and the white color. Won't be easy getting the PSVR2 for me, lol - but 110 degrees fov, oled, 4K and foveated rendering will be hard to resist - especially powered by the very fast PS5 gpu (which is extremely fast compared to all mobile gpus).  

UpLoadVR just tried the PSVR2, but a prototype, not the final version, and ended up concluding that the PSVR2 was "the most immersive consumer headset I’ve tried to date" - having tried the Varjo Aero, those are big words - more here:

I wonder what kind of headphones he's using 🤔 🤓

Ben Lang also just tried the PSVR2 and concluded about the foveated rendering:

"And while we’re at it, let’s talk about eye-tracking on PSVR 2, which also includes support for foveated rendering. It wasn’t clear to me if all of the demos I saw were using foveated rendering, but I only barely noticed it when playing the VR version of Resident Evil Village. It’s fast and subtle enough that I think most people simply won’t be able to tell that foveated rendering is happening at all [...] All-in-all, I’m quite impressed with what I’ve seen from PSVR 2, both from a features and performance standpoint."

Source: https://www.roadtovr.com/psvr-2-hands-on-preview-playstation-vr-2/2/