Hi, I'm Dave and this is Isabel.
And we are going to tell you all about this stuff that you
need to use the PlayStation VR headset.
So first thing you need, obviously, is the headset.
So, the PlayStation VR headset, feeling it,
it's actually the heaviest one out of all the ones you can buy,
but it's actually most comfortable.
So as you can see here, it's got all the padding in here like the cushioning,
but it also is really good at adjusting to fit different people's heads.
So, there's a button on the back right here, when you press it in,
you pull it forward like that, and then,
it's adjustable, and they're big enough to fit over Dave's head.
Thanks.
You'll also see that there are these blue lights right at the back here.
When it's on, the blue lights appear on the front of it,
and these lights actually used sort of trackers, right?
To be picked up by this stereo cameras.
Well, do you want to talk a little bit about the weight distribution?
Yeah. Well, the interesting thing is,
I think because Sony had been so experienced at making
things like headphones and other electronics,
they've done a great job of the weight distribution too, as Isabel said.
Although it's the heaviest, they actually,
it feels like the lightest.
And the other thing to say is these trackers,
when they get tracked by this camera,
that gives us full positional tracking.
So not only do we know which way it's rotated,
we also know where you are in space,
which is different to their current mobile setups
where they just know the rotation of the headset.
So the main thing you need to power the PlayStation VR headset is the PlayStation 4.
It also comes with this box as well,
which is the power but it also splits up the signal between the headset,
and the PlayStation, and the TV.
One last thing about it is that you can plug in your own headphones on the side here,
there's a lot of control panel with the volume controls,
and also it's way you turn on/off the headset.
And as well as Isabel said,
you can plug in your own headphones on this box.
Not only does it do the visual video splitting,
but it also does all the calculation for the sound,
so it can place it all around you in 3D.
You can do some experiences just with the headset,
but also, you can use controllers.
So this is a traditional game controller.
It's the standard PlayStation DualShock 4.
This has gyros in it and that means again,
you know the orientation of it,
but you don't know exactly where it is in space.
It does have this light bar,
and that can be tracked by this camera.
But as soon as,
so you can imagine it like that, as soon as you go out like that, you lose that tracking.
So it's that limited what that can do.
It has a bunch of buttons on it,
these classic PlayStation buttons,
and this D-pad, and then,
these two joysticks, and even has these shoulders as well.
So this is great for playing all kinds of games,
but it can be a bit limited in VR because you really want to have hands.
And that's where these guys come in.
So these are PlayStation Move controllers.
They were actually released about 10 years ago,
way before any VR was happening.
And as motion controllers,
similar to the Nintendo Wii controllers,
and when these are on,
these ping pong balls glow different colors,
and again, the camera can track them.
So altogether, the camera and the processing of that feed
has got a lot of work to do because it's going to track these lights on from the headset,
and track these as well.
These have the same gyros in this,
so we have some orientation.
And then, with these glowing ping pong balls,
we actually get very precise information the way your hands are.
Using these triggers that are on them,
we can then replicate what it's like to pick things up, and at that point,
you get some really great VR experiences because not only are you in full VR,
you've got great 3D sound, but then,
you've got hands as well,
and that feels very very natural, and very intuitive.
And so, I think that's one of the big benefits of the high-end systems now.
They've got these hand controllers if you like,
but you can tell from these,
they've got these tiny buttons on the front which is
unlike any of the other hand controllers for VR.
And that's because they were originally
designed where they thought you'd be able to see them,
but now you can't because you're in VR.
So, I wouldn't be surprised if they
redesign them at some point to make that a bit clearer.
Dr Sylvia Xueni PanLecturer, Department of Computing
Dr Marco GilliesSenior Lecturer
