On sale from February 22, the PS5 VR headset comes at a pivotal time for the industry. While mixed reality is about to crush everything in its path, the PS VR2 seems to be positioning itself as the last resister of a technology that has never managed to take off.
Will there ever be a PS VR3? Maybe, but it is very likely that this product will not look at all like the model launched in 2023.
On February 22, Sony will release the second iteration of its PlayStation VR headset, logically named PlayStation VR2. The concept is practically the same as in 2016: the PS VR2 is a virtual reality headset connected to a console with a cable, designed for completely immersive experiences. We were able to try it briefly in January, while waiting to receive it for a longer test. Technically impressive, the PS VR2 should nevertheless surprise no one. This is a VR headset designed for VR, targeting VR enthusiasts.
It is this observation that made us want to write this article. While mixed/augmented reality is starting to make a lot of noise (the Meta Quest Pro has also proven its immense potential to us), is Sony making a mistake by betting on such a “banal” strategy? The last decade of virtual reality is proof that this technology can never become as popular as PlayStation consoles.
PS VR2 will never be a hit
Virtual reality has its fans, but it is not a technology likely to please everyone. It’s not Numerama that says it, but Andrew Bosworth, the head of virtual reality at Meta. According to him, the future of his company is on the side of mixed reality, since “Virtual reality is not big enough for the public. Mammals need to see their surroundings”. Such an observation, in the mouth of the man in charge of the number 1 of VR, is edifying. Even though the tech world has been trying to make us believe for years that virtual reality will eventually go viral, the reality is that it probably never will. This technology is doomed to remain a niche, intended for specific users.
This observation, Sony has also made. After a PS VR with mixed success in 2016, the Japanese brand is relaunching with a more efficient PS VR2, but also much more expensive. At $600, more than the PS5, it’s pretty easy to predict mixed success for the headset. The fact that Sony only sells it on its site is also proof of this, the company is responding to a request from virtual reality fans who want to discover their favorite titles in an immersive version. Breaking prices would be useless, VR would never attract enough people.
From our first tests, the PS VR2 looks like a great quality headset. Its OLED screens are beautiful, the pixels are almost indistinguishable, the field of vision is among the best on the market, wearing it is pleasant… Sony seems to have produced a successful virtual reality headset, perfect for video games. But this proposal could have been much more complete.
Mixed reality at Sony in 2024?
The PS VR2 only incorporates one pioneering technology: eye tracking. Thanks to sensors, the helmet can automatically vary the distance between the lenses and, above all, allow its user to select something while looking at it. Other than that, the PS VR2 does virtual reality like every other brand has always done.
Connected by a cable that cannot be disconnected, the PS VR2 cannot be used on the move. This is already a huge brake on its purchase, while all recent helmets allow you to be kept on your head while you are physically moving. The other problem concerns its “passthrough” mode, which allows you to see through it to, for example, grab a controller. Sony’s is in black and white, while color is starting to appear at Meta, HTC and Pico. Forget mixed reality, which allows you to display virtual elements in the middle of the real world thanks to cameras, the PS VR2 is unable to do so. A real missed opportunity, Sony could have been a pioneer with augmented reality games. As in the days of the PSP and Invizimals.
“Mammals need to see their environment”
Andrew Bosworththe head of virtual reality at Meta
According to specialists in the world of “XR”, like Brad Lynch, all this is all the more regrettable as Sony is preparing to launch a mixed reality headset in 2024, one year after the PS VR2. The latter should not be designed for the PlayStation, but probably presented as a competitor to the Apple Reality Pro headset, expected at the end of the year. Meta, with its Quest 3, should also popularize mixed reality with an affordable price at the same time. In short, Sony’s timing is not good. PS VR2 already seems overdue even before its release.
On February 22, Sony will release a product designed for virtual reality as everyone knows it, at a time when other brands are beginning to present it as has-been. This is all the more true since the wired nature of the PS VR2 limits it to exclusive use for the PS5. It will not be a usable headset for mobile gaming or watching a movie in another room.
Why the PS VR2 still makes you want
Despite this observation, it is impossible for us not to want to spend long hours with the PS VR2 on our heads. Sony’s shyness is regrettable, but video games are the only segment in which completely immersive virtual reality has already proven itself. If popular titles follow (god of war, The Last of Us…), so playing around with the PS VR2 might still be cool. Of course, the very restrictive use of the product will not make it a competitor of the Meta Quest or the future product of Apple… Something tells us however that there will never again be a virtual reality headset in this form , since industry is preparing its revolution.
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