Creating a virtual reality headset, much less one that’s affordable to the masses, is no easy task. If Oculus Rift’s journey has taught us anything, it’s that the road is rife with challenges, both financial and technical. Sony’s PlayStation VR has faced its fair share of hurdles and in speaking with Digital Spy, Sony Worldwide Studios president for SCEI Shuhei Yoshida revealed that putting the device on was one of the biggest challenges of its design.
“Mechanical engineers from each part of the development team had a big challenge from Ito-san, the head of hardware (Masayasu Ito, PlayStation executive vice president). His order was to make it so that anyone can put it on and off with just one hand.
“The earlier prototype of Project Morpheus had two sets of fit bands, which was a bit too complicated for our tastes, so the designers came up with this one big band that stretches and shrinks pretty easily, so you can handle it with one hand when you’re used to it.
“It also lets you to pull out the display when you need to look at a smartphone or drink, because of the weight balance. This was important but super challenging for the designers and we are proud of what they’ve accomplished.”
PlayStation VR is out in October 2016 and will retail for $399. A special bundle containing PlayStation Camera (mandatory for using PS VR), PlayStation Move, the VR headset and free game will be available for $499.