Sony delving into virtual reality

There's no doubt that 2D is the foundation that the video game market was built on, and its success has allowed the industry to shift into the 3D realm. Sony pushed for 3D on the PS3 at E3 2011, Nintendo popped out the 3DS and Microsoft's been buzzing about 3D for the 360 for some time now. The seeds of 3D gaming were planted by the near-forgotten and doomed concept of “virtual reality” gaming presented in arcade games and later on devices like Nintendo's Virtual Boy.

Sony looks to be reaching beyond the 3D realm to breathe life back into virtual reality and give it another chance. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Sony unveiled a headset that could provide a way for gamers to become more immersed with their games like never before. Sony Worldwide Studios senior director, Mick Hocking spoke with Develop about how they're working on integrating virtual reality experiences into video games.

“We've also got a new head mounted display that we showed at CES, that can produce really great quality 3D and a very immersive experience for games. The head-mounted display has twin-OLED screens; very high quality,” Hocking said. “At the moment it’s just a head-mounted display; the head isn’t being tracked – but that’s something we’re doing R&D on. I have to say, what we’ve done in the R&D projects has just been fantastic.”

The headset will also support 5.1 surround sound, but Sony has yet to reveal the cost and release date. Regardless, you'll definitely want to start saving your pennies now.