While its developers are doing all they can with PlayStation VR’s hardware to minimise motion sickness and optimise user comfort, much of the responsibility falls on game developers to create appropriate content, a key Sony figure has said.
Towards the end of a developer session discussing PlayStation VR earlier today at EGX 2015, Simon Benson, the director of SCE Worldwide Studios’ Immersive Technology Group, was questioned by a member of the audience on how the team are looking to address reports of users suffering motion sickness throughout virtual reality with the development of the tech.
Benson explained that the PS VR has a field of view of around 100-degrees – higher than other virtual reality headsets – which should make users feel like there are no borders to the gameplay and therefore “makes a lot of difference to make sure people are comfortable within the game”.
He went on to state that although Sony have done all they can at hardware level to make sure comfort issues are being addressed, it is ultimately up to the game developers themselves to ensure their titles make appropriate use of the technology. He said:
“I think that it’s still the case that if someone creates, for example, an experience simulating going on a white-knuckle ride, and you’re one of those people that don’t like white-knuckle rides, then you’ll still feel [the discomfort associated with that]. It then becomes the responsibility of the content creators, effectively, to make the right sort of content – but clearly, because we’re PlayStation, we’ll make sure we look after that side and try to ensure that everyone tries to get a comfortable experience all the way through.”
For more PlayStation VR, read what Sony had to say about what makes their headset stand out in what is becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace.
