Virtual reality comes to PlayStation 4 with Sony’s new VR headset. The headset will let gamers see a virtual image of gameplay while wearing the headset.

Sony has unveiled the new design at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and the prototype looks really amazing.

This is the second stab that Sony has taken at a virtual reality headset of sorts. The company did release the ‘Personal 3D Viewer’ some time ago, but those goggles never caught on completely.

Sony isn’t giving up. The newest headset (codenamed ‘Project Morpheus’) promises to provide gamers with a much smoother experience this time around.

Inside Project Morpheus

If you’re thinking that you’ll have to wear some kind of clunky headset in order to play virtual reality video games, that image has been updated. Sony’s newest headset is on the thing side with a futuristic blue light that appears across the rim of the headset. Stereoscopic sound is included to completely immerse gamers, and it will come with a controller.

The idea behind the headset is to let gamers experience any game in virtual reality format with the help of some motion sensors that have been included in the headset.

Sony isn’t the first company to focus on the gaming market by introducing a new VR headset. Valve released a similar headset just a few months ago, and Oculus VR has a headset that’s widely popular. Sony’s version is still in development format, though the company does expect to send the headset to market soon. The prototype that was showcased at the aforementioned conference was welcomed and well received.

Developers Will Get It First

If you manage to get on the Sony list, you may get a set of googles first. Sony does plan to create a soft launch in beta form by sending a few of the prototypes to game developers.

Once those have been reviewed and played with, Sony will gather the feedback, tweak the product if necessary, and start selling to a wider market. No set release date has been mentioned yet, but the fact that Sony has debuted the headset at the recent conference means that the company is really close to sending these googles to market.

The concept of a virtual reality headset is a fun one. It’s also one that’s been proven to work (if you look at Valve and Oculus VR’s numbers). The thing that manufactures have to consider, though, is whether or not headsets developed for gamers is just a fad (kind of like 3D TV). If it is, the market might be finished before Sony gets a chance to release its newest product. There’s also the cost to consider: a headset like this one isn’t going to be cheap!

If you are a gamer, are you interested in this kind of a headset? Do you own a virtual reality headset already? It’s hard to imagine these headsets selling like hotcakes, but you never know, right? I’ll keep you posted on updates from Sony!