The Oculus Rift and Gear VR virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) have already been used for plenty of applications outside of videogames. Many people see the advent of VR films to be just as exciting as playable titles, for example. When it comes to PlayStation VR, Sony Computer Entertainment’s (SCE’s) upcoming HMD for the PlayStation 4, you might think that nongaming VR content won’t play much of a role. But, according to SCE Head of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida, that assumption would be wrong.
Yoshida said as much in an interview with Fortune. “It’s going to be very important,” he replied when asked what role nongaming VR content would play with PlayStation VR. “I’m a huge fan of the 360-degree videos and experiences that those entertainment companies and new startups are producing. They clearly understand the impact and the power of this new medium. People feel like they are in these experiences at the places that the video was shot instead of watching it remotely from within their console at home. The power of these mediums can be communicated in nongaming form.
He continued, noting that this variety should help PlayStation VR succeed: “And actually in many cases it’s better to have these experiences, rather than just games, so that the mass audience will start to notice that, “Wow, this is something that I should be checking out. This is way more than the new form of gaming.” VR could be the new form of learning, or knowing, or understanding the world better. And hopefully VR will improve some people’s health as well. So a lot of people will start to see this tech show up, whether they are looking for it or not. These nongaming applications will play a huge role to help promote all new VR systems,” Yoshida concluded.
Expect to see plenty of VR content other than videogames come to PlayStation VR in the future, then. The kit is set to arrive in the first half of 2016. For the latest updates on it, keep reading VRFocus.
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