The next era of Virtual Reality (VR) is sweeping the gaming industry like never before. There are, however, many unanswered questions regarding VR like how the apps will look like? How they will work and whether they will resemble the games played on the current console. It is also not known whether VR will be an exploration place to experience and marvel or environments to play in.
At the recent VR conference in Bristol, the question discussed was how to make VR attractive to customers without scaring or alienating them. Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) is thinking about the challenges which could crop up in the process to make VR attractive to customers. The London Studio of Sony Computer Entertainment has from the start concentrated on experimental projects on VR.
The studio specializes in creating new interface techs like the karaoke sim SingStar and the PS3 Wonderbook. The studio is one of the key teams working on Sony’s forthcoming VR headset named project Morpheus. The new gadget will be fitted to Sony PS4 and promises to bring forth the next generation of immersive VR games and application.
According to Sony London head, Dave Ranyard, there are overlaps between issues found in VR and augmented reality therefore the leap to VR was not much. He further stated that work on the headset has been going on for a while, and there has been advancement made to Morpheus.
Sony London has released some demos and is experimenting with the T experience. At the E3 event in 2014, Sony studio showcased The Deep where a person is immersed in an ocean in a shark cage with sharks swimming by. Another demo was a racing sim game where the user is hurtled down a narrow road on a lunge.
The biggest challenge however for Sony is to make VR a social experience. The company needs to engage its users in a VR environment, which is immersive and can hold the attention of various users.
