Sony PlayStation VR (PSVR) Review

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Health, Safety, & Maintenance

Sony’s health and safety warnings for the PSVR are a little bit different than what we've seen from HTC’s Vive and Oculus’ Rift, though the PSVR has a similar age recommendation as the other two systems. The instructions say that “the VR headset is not for use by children under age 12.” Sony doesn't cite a reason why kids shouldn’t play with the headset, though.

HTC and Oculus include similar warnings with their HMDs. HTC doesn’t specify an age limit, though it acknowledges the Vive isn’t meant for children. Oculus warns against using the Rift unless you're 13 or older due to its IPD adjustment range. You can dial in the Rift’s lenses to as little as 58mm, but that's still too far apart for young children. The PSVR headset doesn’t offer mechanical IPD adjustment at all, so it may not be suited to narrow faces. Improper IPD calibration can lead to motion sickness, depth perception issues, and, in young children, potential long-term vision issues.

You Don’t Get A Digital Nanny; Safety Is Your Problem

Sony designed the PSVR for your living room or recreation room because that’s where most people have their gaming consoles. The PSVR system is also intended primarily for seated experiences. Its hardware can accommodate standing VR games, but Sony seems to frown on that configuration. With few exceptions, most games have you sitting down.

As such, the company doesn't include a safety system for the PSVR that maps out your play space. HTC’s Vive includes a system called Chaperone that helps you keep track of the real world as you navigate virtual environments. As you approach the threshold of your defined zone, a virtual grid appears to make you aware. Oculus didn’t have a solution like Chaperone when the Rift launched last year, but now that the Touch controllers are available, it has an equivalent called Guardian.

Sony’s Move controllers offer six degrees of freedom tracking, but the tracking space is too narrow for proper room-scale VR games. Rather than encourage you to move around by adding a safety system, Sony instead tells developers not to build games for PSVR that depend on room-scale.

Sony doesn't dismiss safety altogether, though. When you turn the PSVR on, you’ll see a message warning you to verify that your play space is clear. You don’t want to swing your hands around on the couch and smash them into the coffee table, so be sure to clear space in front of you.

How Do You Keep The PSVR Clean?

The PSVR HMD isn’t as fragile or delicate as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Oculus made the Rift out of fabric, so you can’t wipe the shell off with a cloth, and the Vive is littered with IR sensors that are sensitive to moisture, so you can’t get it damp at all. Sony built the PSVR out of injection-molded plastic and sealed the LED lights behind plastic lenses, which you can wipe off easily.

Even the foam cushion on the headband is washable; Sony wrapped it in a water-resistant rubber-like material. The cushions for the Vive and Rift absorb sweat, but the PSVR’s cushion doesn’t.

The lenses are the only external part of the headset that you shouldn’t ever get wet. Sony includes a cloth in the PSVR package to clean grease and fingerprint smudges off of them. If you lose the provided cloth, use a cloth meant for cleaning corrective lenses. Any other material could scratch the lenses.

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

  • blackmagnum
    Sony going after the affordable market? You've got to be kidding me! What's Apple say on this?
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Thanks for the thorough review, Kevin. Is OSVR's HDK2 in your queue? I understand it has display tech similar to PSVR's, but with the same pixel resolution as Rift & Vive.

    If I buy PSVR, I'd wait for PS4 Pro to get updated so the breakout box is unnecessary. They should've just put the PSVR ports right on the front of it. Then, sell me the whole kit in one box.

    As for the lack of room scale, it's hardly surprising, if they're just using the stereo camera for tracking. It has to be able to see the controllers, which it can't do if your body is in the way. Even if they have built-in IMUs, those will drift without periodic registration with the camera.

    Finally, I'm impressed that it can send different images to the HMD and TV. Although this will only add to the burden on the PS4's GPU, it's a nice feature. Reminds me of the Wii U, a bit. I don't own one, but saw a couple games make good use of the private view afforded by the tablet.
    Reply
  • Dosflores
    19196429 said:
    Finally, I'm impressed that it can send different images to the HMD and TV. Although this will only add to the burden on the PS4's GPU, it's a nice feature.

    It doesn't necessarily add burden on the GPU. It's only needed for "social gaming", and that kind of games can live without great graphics. For "standard games", the breakout box simply undistorts the image being sent to the HMD, and outputs the result to the TV.

    You're right about the PS4 Pro. It should have included the PSVR ports, and not only to reduce clutter. The PS4 Pro supports HDR output (and the standard PS4 now does it too), but the breakout box doesn't. If you want HDR output to your TV, you have to disconnect the breakout box and connect the PS4 directly to the TV. If you want to play some VR game again, you have to disconnect the TV and connect the PS4 to the breakout box again. This design flaw is enough to convince me not to buy PSVR until the next update of either the PS4 Pro or the PSVR system.
    Reply
  • cknobman
    You did not touch on the actual gaming experience very much.

    I read and watched a few game experiences and reviews using PSVR and the biggest complaint that was due to how low the processing power was of the PS4 they had to really really compromise on the graphics.

    The graphics of the VR games on PS4 were absolutely terrible including missing/no textures lots of things just not rendered period and low res up-sampled.
    Reply
  • Agente Silva
    Born Dead...
    Reply
  • Agente Silva
    ... and I´ll explain why:

    1. In an era where game developers are heading into unified platforms it will be very hard to see proper games (instead of "experiences").

    2. Gamers don´t want to have a strapped screen to their face.

    3. Enthusiasts won´t spend 500$ on something that doesn´t display AAA games (not even mentioning mainstream).

    4. For the mainstream this is a showroom equipement.
    Reply
  • Jeff Fx
    >Premium-grade virtual reality demands more performance than you would expect a PS4 could provide

    Yes it does.

    >, but Sony pulls it off.

    No, this is PSVR, which is far from a premium VR experience.
    They can't deliver the tracking accuracy or video quality of a premium VR system.
    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    19196429 said:
    Thanks for the thorough review, Kevin. Is OSVR's HDK2 in your queue? I understand it has display tech similar to PSVR's, but with the same pixel resolution as Rift & Vive.

    If I buy PSVR, I'd wait for PS4 Pro to get updated so the breakout box is unnecessary. They should've just put the PSVR ports right on the front of it. Then, sell me the whole kit in one box.

    As for the lack of room scale, it's hardly surprising, if they're just using the stereo camera for tracking. It has to be able to see the controllers, which it can't do if your body is in the way. Even if they have built-in IMUs, those will drift without periodic registration with the camera.

    Finally, I'm impressed that it can send different images to the HMD and TV. Although this will only add to the burden on the PS4's GPU, it's a nice feature. Reminds me of the Wii U, a bit. I don't own one, but saw a couple games make good use of the private view afforded by the tablet.

    I'm glad you enjoyed the review. OSVR HDK2 is on my list. I hope to have a review sample in the near future.

    I was also suprised/impressed that it could do social screen gaming when I first hear about it. Check out my interview with Richard Marks (linked in the review) for more insight on that.

    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    19198130 said:
    You did not touch on the actual gaming experience very much.

    I read and watched a few game experiences and reviews using PSVR and the biggest complaint that was due to how low the processing power was of the PS4 they had to really really compromise on the graphics.

    The graphics of the VR games on PS4 were absolutely terrible including missing/no textures lots of things just not rendered period and low res up-sampled.

    I wrote the review before the PS4 Pro launched but it was delayed due to the Rift review, holiday break, and CES. At the time of writing the review, I hadn't had a chance to try many games. Sony didn't provide us a review sample, so I purchased all the games that I have.

    I've since updated to the PS4 Pro and picked up a number of games. Watch for follow-up content about some games soon.
    Reply
  • kcarbotte
    19198536 said:
    ... and I´ll explain why:

    1. In an era where game developers are heading into unified platforms it will be very hard to see proper games (instead of "experiences").


    Care to elaborate? I'm not following your logic here.
    Unity and Unreal make it easy for developers to support Oculus, SteamVR, and PSVR with minimal effort.

    19198536 said:
    2. Gamers don´t want to have a strapped screen to their face.


    That's an incredibly generalzed, and ill-informed statement. Sony stated it sold "many hundred of thousands" of PSVR headsets upon release and the hardware has been in high demand to the point where Sony has not been able to keep up with demand. Its sold out practically everywhere.

    In my experience, after showing over 3000 people VR hardware, people think they don't want to strap on a screen until they try it, and then they want one of thier own.

    19198536 said:
    3. Enthusiasts won´t spend 500$ on something that doesn´t display AAA games (not even mentioning mainstream).

    Resident Evil 7 drops tomorrow with full VR support start to finish.
    Robinson: The Journey is easily a AAA title.

    AAA titles are coming. It takes time to make AAA games, though. Many games take 2 to 3 years or more to develop. Sony hasn't had developer kits of PSVR out in the wild for that long.


    19198536 said:
    4. For the mainstream this is a showroom equipement.

    Yup. That's how new technology launches.
    When CDs hit the market in the 80s, DVD players were thousands of dollars.
    When PCs hit the market, they were well over $5000
    When Cell Phones came to market, they were thousands of dollars with no subsidies.

    I could go on and on and on all day long about new technologies launching at crazy prices.
    Early adopters always pay a higher price to be first in line. As units sell in higher and higher volume, manufacturing costs come down, which leads to lower consumer price tags.

    VR hardware won't always be $500.

    Reply