Sony may move into the territory market dominated by the Oculus Rift and other virtual-reality headsets with an upgrade to its head-mounted display. With a prototype head tracker attached, the visor-like entertainment device becomes an immersive game environment.
The company's HMZ-T3W headgear has been around since September of last year, although it was designed to be primarily a video device. The idea is you slip on the display (which makes you look like Cyclops from the X-Men), sit back and press play. The headset will create a virtual 750-inch (!) screen in front of your eyes, complete with surround sound, giving you a cinematic experience wherever you are.
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A head tracker, which Sony showed a prototype of at CES 2014, takes the experience to the next level. With the tracker, which is located right behind your head, the virtual environment it creates can respond to your head movement — perfect for games or even interactive videos.
I got a little eyes-on time with the upgraded headset. The display definitely immerses you, and although it's not quite the same as looking at a real screen, you get used to the "virtualness" of the screen quickly.
I watched some video captured from a race car, which was specifically created for the headset. As the road, spectators and landmarks whizzed by me, I could turn my head side to side or up and down to see more of the environment. The video wasn't a complete 360-degree view, going black if I turned too far, but there was next to no latency, and the headset's OLED screens did a great job of producing a bright, sharp picture.
Sony has no info on if or when its head-tracking version of the headset will become available, but you can buy the regular HMZ-T3W today for $998.
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