We know for a fact that the PSVR 2 is coming, but while Sony has given us some teasers about its next-gen VR headset, many details remain clouded in mystery.
That might now have changed, because Sony has just been granted a patent for a ‘head mounted display,’ as spotted by Distrito XR. And while the patent doesn’t divulge any details about the headset, or give the slightest confirmation that it is the PSVR 2, it's obviously got a lot of people excited.
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There's no doubting that the patent is Sony’s, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that this is the PSVR 2. For starters, though it was only granted last week, it was filed nearly two and a half years ago on June 13 2019 — and that’s a long time where tech is concerned.
Patents don’t always turn into real products either, as anyone who’s paid close attention to the likes of the Surface Pro 8 will know. In that case, Microsoft patents revealed a whole host of incredible features that some speculated would come to the tablet PC. But when the device actually arrived, it was disappointingly similar to its predecessor.
It’s also worth mentioning that an earlier PSVR 2 controller patent we saw in March turned out to be completely different from the final design Sony announced just a few weeks later.
In any case, whether this design is anything close to what the PSVR 2 will look like or not, it is still a fairly generic VR headset. On the other hand, it's also noticeably different to the original PSVR, with a smaller display unit and a larger band at the back of the head.
The adjustment/locking wheel has also been removed, with the patent describing a system of anchoring clasps. How that could work in practice isn’t clear, but based on the patent copy, Sony could be refining the headset’s design to try to optimize wearer comfort. That would be no bad thing, as it would hopefully mean gamers could wear it for longer periods of time.
At this stage we can only speculate as to whether this patent is related to the PSVR 2. But while it looks possible, there's certainly nothing here that convinces us one way or the other.
For now, we’ll just have to be patient and hope that Sony reveals some concrete details soon. At the very least we’d like to find out when the headset might launch, even if it's likely the ongoing global chip shortage will hamper supplies — as has been the case with the PS5 restock situation.
We're also hoping that a separate rumor from last week proves to be true: a post on ResetEra, reported on by TechRadar, claimed that the headset might be backwards compatible with current PSVR games. Fingers crossed for that one.
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