The long-rumored second generation of Sony's PlayStation VR still hasn't been announced, but there are some rumored specifications and features doing the rounds, which paint a pretty picture of what the future of console virtual reality could be like. UploadVR is reporting that the PSVR2 could come with some exciting new motion controllers that look very much inspired by the Valve Knuckle controllers and Oculus' hand-encompassing motion controls, and that the headset itself could offer 4K panels, foveated rendering, and inside-out tracking.
If that all sounds a little buzzwordy, you'd be forgiven. VR has its own selection of technologies that don't make a huge impact elsewhere in gaming. Yet. Inside out tacking is an important component of the latest generations of VR headset that ditch the external trackers of the Original Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, in favour of depth sensing cameras mounted on the headset. Controller occlusion becomes more of a problem that way, but it makes setup far easier, and the overall cost comes down too. It also expands your potential roomscale playspace to just about any size you want.
Foveated rendering is basically eye tracking with variable rate resolution. So what you're looking at gets rendered at the utmost detail, while everything you're not looking at gets scaled back to save on resources. It helps keep frame rates high while preserving the most important details for your point of focus — the peripherals can make do with 1080p.
And that's probably why the PSVR2 will offer 4K as its central resolution, because foveated rendering will let the PSVR2 focus on giving your eyeballs that resolution where they're looking, while keeping frame rates high enough that you don't vomit.
There are also rumors of improved haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and finger touch detection for better hand tracking in games too.
This is all still very much rumorville, but it's an exciting prospect of what a next-gen PSVR could be.
