Sony plans on treating virtual reality fans with an updated version of its VR headset in the first half of 2016.
The Japanese tech giant unveiled a new prototype of the device, dubbed Project Morpheus, at this week's Game Developer's Conference in Barcelona and plans on providing new and improved VR experiences to owners of its PlayStation 4 console, according to USA Today.
The move puts Sony in deeper competition with other tech companies that revealed details about their own VR projects at the event, such as Samsung, which unveiled a new version of its Gear VR, and HTC, which announced that it was working on its own headset with Valve Software.
Improvements made to Morpheus include a new 5.7-in OLED screen from the 5-in LCD display, the ability to show graphics at 120 frames per second (fps), and the use of nine LEDs instead of six to track head movement, BBC News reported. The new display covers a 100-degree field of view and shows more vibrant colors, and the new frame rate allows objects to appear much smoother and reduces the chance of users getting sick.
The new Morpheus's latency rate, which measures the gap in time between the user moving their head and the headset responding, has also been improved from 0.04 seconds to 0.018 seconds. Sony has also given its helmet a quick-release button so users have an easier time taking it off.
However, the headset's screen resolution is still 1080p high definition, BBC News reported.
PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida said at GDC that Sony will begin selling the new Morpheus in the first six months of 2016. He added that the current version is "near final," suggesting that more changes would be made, and that the company will reveal more details about the headset at the E3 video games expo in June.
