Sony and Facebook dabble in virtual reality pc and game consoles

[Abstract] in the field of gaming, communication, virtual reality will be a new medium. Tencent Technology Beckham March 30 to compile virtual reality really came, this point no doubt. In just a week, two giant companies have claimed that virtual reality will be the future of their industry. Facebook and Sony, respectively, are the originator of social networks and personal electronic devices, and two companies have confirmed the view of startups Oculus VR: Virtual reality will be a new medium in the fields of gaming, communications, etc. Facebook took the initiative to buy Oculus VR for $2 billion trillion and put a handful of virtual reality technicians under its wing, while Sony unveiled Project Morpheus, similar to Oculus Rift and a smart head-wearing device. What is virtual reality virtual reality is a billions of dollar concept, but this does not mean that it today is ready for the consumer market. We have to realize that after the first virtual reality headset enters the market, it may not be able to provide the experience that people expect from the Matrix software in the movie Matrix. Two years ago, Oculus said that virtual reality was not just presenting images in front of the eyes, Oculus Rift, a lightweight head-wearing device that provides head tracking and a wide range of perspectives, allows users to experience freely in virtual environments. This allows such devices to be immediately distinguished from devices such as the Nintendo Virtual Boy or the Sony Personal 3D Viewer, which allows users to view still illusions at a distance from the screen. With Project Morpheus, Sony has reached the virtual reality of the Oculus definition, the similarities between the two are more than the difference. Each device has a pair of wide-angle lens, the left and right eyes to see the image magnified to your entire field of vision, while the external camera can track the head wearing equipment, the LED device to determine the direction of movement. This means that you can see almost any direction and tilt the head toward the object according to the system tracking direction. But you can't really come close to seeing objects or interacting with them like the real world. Oculus has not yet studied the solution of the controller, the Sony PlayStation move somatosensory controller can not completely replace the hands. Virtual reality controller is still in the research and development phase, which is a problem. Cooling expectations may be why Oculus and Sony have lowered their expectations. Oculus now calls virtual reality the "sitting experience", most of the virtual reality scenes during the GDC Game Developers Conference meet this theme: In a relatively mild game environment, you sit there, the head revolves around a fixed 3D space, rather than into the entire virtual world. Oculus CEO Brandon Erib (Brendan Iribe) points out that you can do a lot of things, such as driving, driving a spaceship,Directing football matches, watching live concerts, sitting on the beach, and so on, but these seem to be inconsistent with the expectations of a tour of the Super universe. But Oculus and Sony are now keeping a low profile. Remember the sensation that 3D TV caused? Companies that promote virtual reality have a firm belief that they need to ensure quality control so that people do not resent the first experience, as they did with 3D TV. "Personally, I'm very disappointed with the quality of the 3D TVs that Sony and other companies have launched," said Shuhei Yoshida, Sony PlayStation software director. "Of course I can't say that, or the PR of the company will shoot me." He smiled and said. This time, the PlayStation Department will produce Project Morpheus-head equipment directly, he said: "We are responsible for production so that we can ensure that we do the right thing." "Obviously, the Sony PlayStation Department attaches great importance to virtual reality, and Sony does want to achieve success in virtual reality, not just as a task." Although the company has yet to confirm that it will produce the ultimate product, Tian Xiuping said: "We need a product!" "And now the prototype product is so exquisite, Sony is obviously well-intentioned." "I know there are people who worry about our lack of focus and worry that we are rolling out a standard virtual reality device that brings a bad word of mouth to virtual reality," said Yang Gottluck, chief executive of Virtuix, a virtual reality technology company. People very seriously listen to valve and Oculus and other companies and take notes, I think the product will reach the Oculus Rift standards. "Sony Oculus who will win?" For now, Sony, not Oculus, will lead the consumer virtual reality revolution. At the 2014 Game Developers Conference, Sony said that it was the most capable of realizing the virtual reality dream. Compared with Oculus, a start-up, Sony has the ability to build virtual reality hardware and experience on its own, and has enough money and markets. Sony has promised that its virtual reality products will be as simple and practical as a game console, which is quite different from Oculus's experiment so far. Now that Oculus has become a part of Facebook, it makes a big difference. After being sold to Facebook, Oculus became a carrier of consumer virtual reality technology in media coverage. Sony's "plug-and-play" gaming and entertainment system eventually had to compete with Facebook, which looked to virtual reality as the next computing platform. In this case, Sony's advantage has become a disadvantage, because in order to maintain the "plug-play" The quality of the game, Sony must be submitted to the developers of the game software carefully selected. That, of course, is enough to show that Facebook and Sony are going to have a direct fight, and they've opened up their own fields, PCs and gaming consoles. For now, they faceSame problem. Both Sony and Oculus want to work together to make sure that each other's head-wearing devices are compatible with their content, and that these headband devices require better parts. Initially, Oculus's virtual reality head-wearing device also needed the LCD screen support of smartphones and tablets, but Oculus founder Palmer Luci (Palmer Luckey) told us that there was no need to do so now, Oculus will use Facebook's financial and influence to create specialized components. "I think as long as Mark Zuckerberg calls, no Asian producer's CEO will ignore it." "Oculus investor, board member Antonio Rodriguez (Antonio Rodriguez) said. The future is worth looking forward to now virtual reality is still a little hazy, you can not reach. But things will change in a few years, when new parts will enter the market. Recently Valve has demonstrated a virtual reality prototype product and worked with Oculus to solve some enduring problems in the field of virtual reality technology. As for the virtual reality after the technology matures, these two companies share the same philosophy, and those who have seen valve prototypes say the product's future is worth looking forward to. "Technical problems will be solved over time, such as refresh rate, speed, durability, cost, weight and volume, which is only a matter of time," said Sony's Tian Xiuping. But it's pretty hard to get everything ready. "You don't have to wait two years to keep your expectations low," he said. Oculus does not intend to solve the controller problem when it launches the first consumer virtual reality head-wearing device, said the company's CEO, Brandon Erib. "Now we just have to keep our eyes low and start from this perspective." He says other senses of the future will be "gradually improved". "There will be no platform beyond us," says Erika, "and the virtual reality is the ultimate platform, which begins entirely from the present." ”