PSVR 2 will use its four onboard cameras to allow players to see into the real world and set up safe boundary zones, Sony has confirmed.
A post on the PlayStation Blog revealed new details for the upcoming headset, which runs off of the PS5 console. For starters, PSVR 2 features a black and white passthrough option similar to those on the Meta Quest 2 or Pico Neo Link 3. By acceessing a menu you can quickly select a ‘View Surroundings’ button to see the world around you.
You can also use ‘Set Play Area’ to start setting up your VR space. Again, this works much like it does on other headsets – you use the motion controllers to point around the play space and establish virtual boundaries. But PSVR 2 can also scan the area itself to give an initial layout, detecting objects like couches. The headset will then warn you when you approach those boundaries.
Other upcoming headsets like Meta’s Project Cambria are set to introduce color passthrough to give you a more accurate representation of the world, but it doesn’t appear that PSVR 2 will have a color option.
Elsewhere the system can record player’s own reactions for streams if they’re using the PS5 HD Camera (it doesn’t look like the original PS4 camera for PSVR 1 can be used). The Cinematic Mode will also return, allowing players to access any flat screen video content and games inside PSVR 2, played on a virtual screen. This mode uses 1920×1080 HDR video format with 24/60Hz and also 120Hz frame rate.
Still no actual release date for the headset, though Sony says it will release this information as well as another look at upcoming games “soon”. Fingers crossed we’re talking weeks and not months.
