The electronics giant Sony unveiled the design of its virtual reality headset for its PlayStation 5 console on Tuesday, showing its ambitions in this growing market.
The Japanese group had launched a first accessory of its kind in 2016 for its previous machine.
This PlayStation VR 2, similar to a white and black headband with rounded and clean lines like the PS5, is visually more futuristic and more pleasant to wear.
Its release date and price are not yet known.
“
We already had an almost perfect headset with the first model so we didn't want to fundamentally change the user experience.
What I wanted to modify was to make it smaller and a little lighter
,” Yujin Morisawa, its designer, told AFP.
Details revealed gradually
Sony is gradually unveiling the elements of its helmet.
He had already shown the controllers, as well as a few seconds of a game from the PlayStation Horizon saga.
He also revealed technical features, such as a high-definition Oled screen, four integrated cameras to track movements in space and a vibration system to enhance immersion in games.
Read alsoSony unveils the future PS5 virtual reality headset, the PlayStation VR2
It is also adjustable to adapt to each morphology and to people who wear glasses.
Openings also allow air to circulate to prevent fogging, noted Mr. Morisawa, pointing out that the difficulty in the conception of the design is that the object must be carried on oneself.
5 million sales for the PlayStation VR1
Sony has managed to sell more than five million copies of its first headset worldwide, making it one of the best-selling models in a market that is growing little by little and includes among its representatives the giant's Meta Quest 2 American Meta (parent company of Facebook).
According to a study by PwC, the virtual reality sector, which brought in some $1.8 billion in revenue in 2020, will grow by around 30% on average each year by 2025, to weigh on this horizon nearly 7 billion dollars.
On the console market, Sony is the only manufacturer to have taken this route so far.
But this sector is at the center of attention as the metaverse develops, this network of interconnected virtual spaces accessible through augmented or virtual reality glasses, in which Meta or Microsoft are particularly interested.