Skip to main content

New Sony patent suggests a wireless PSVR headset could be on the way

playstation vr 2017 review front angle
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Sony patent documents published by the Japan Patent Office over the weekend suggest that a wireless PSVR is in the works. According to the images, the virtual reality headset will be able to function without any direct connection to a console or breakout box, and will instead use a radio wave to communicate between the console, the breakout box, and the headset itself.

The PlayStation VR can be a bit unwieldy for some gaming setups because of its mess of wires and adapters, but it appears Sony could be putting an end to the clutter with a wireless version. Drawings for the patent application — originally submitted more than two years ago — show a larger camera than the PlayStation 4 typically uses, but the setup otherwise looks very similar to what the PlayStation VR uses today.

Recommended Videos

The breakout box is connected to both the television and the console, and the controller included in the drawing appears to be a DualShock 4. The console itself even looks like a PlayStation 4, though the limited processing power of the console compared to VR-ready PCs raises questions about whether the wireless headset could actually be for the next PlayStation system.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The wireless PlayStation VR, should it be released, will still make use of some console, and it doesn’t appear that Sony is moving into the portable virtual reality headsets that competitors like HTC Vive and Oculus have been building.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you have a small child or pets who can be hampered by wires, then you know that a wireless VR headset for PlayStation would literally be a game-changer. It’s unclear just how Sony would plan on keeping the games’ graphical fidelity, however, as the PlayStation VR was already the least powerful of the three major platforms. Should it be communicating with more powerful hardware, that would likely be less of an issue, and the added convenience could help to push VR further into the mainstream.

Sony is remaining tight-lipped on its plan for future PlayStation consoles, but the writing is on the wall. The company won’t be attending E3 this year, and its lineup of upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusives is starting to look thin. We expect to hear more information on its future plans for the PlayStation brand as we approach 2020.

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Sony explains why the PS5 Pro is so expensive and doesn’t come with disc drive
A PS5 Pro that's floating in front of a gray background. It's turned to the side.

By all accounts, the PlayStation 5 Pro is a high-tech console that'll make your games look phenomenal thanks to a new custom GPU and machine-learning-based AI upscaling. In short, it'll make performance modes in the most intense games that much better. However, many were put off by the $700 price tag, which is up to $250 more than the PlayStation 5 Slim.

In an interview with IGN, PlayStation senior principal product manager Toshi Aoki explains the reasoning behind the exorbitant price tag, saying that it's worth it for all the new technology you're going to get.

Read more
PlayStation is remastering the wrong games
Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.

Love it or hate it, a notable PlayStation trend this generation has been remastering PS4 games for PS5. Even though the console is fully backward compatible, we've gotten dedicated PS5 versions of the two The Last of Us games and will soon be getting new versions of Until Dawn and Horizon Zero Dawn for PS5. I find these remasters understandable, yet unnecessary, but I'm more frustrated that Sony isn't giving this treatment to the games that really need it.

I might be beating a dead horse by complaining that PlayStation VR2 doesn't have good first-party support. A year and a half into the headset's lifespan, it's abundantly clear that Sony is ready to move on to the hardware, especially now that there's a PC adapter available. Still, I can't help but wonder if the discourse around PSVR2 would be different had Sony decided to remaster games like Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Blood & Truth in the same way it is doing with Horizon Zero Dawn.

Read more
Sony fixes PS5 bug that was breaking Final Fantasy 16
Final Fantasy 16's cover showcasing its protagonist infront of two demon summons.

Sony has released a fix to a recent firmware update that reportedly caused games like Final Fantasy 16 to experience intense graphical glitches and other issues. Publisher Square Enix confirmed on the official Final Fantasy 16 X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday that there is now a small update for PlayStation 5 players to install.

"In response to the crashes and graphical bugs that were occurring on the PlayStation 5 version of Final Fantasy 16, [Sony Interactive Entertainment has]released a new system update. Please try downloading and installing this update," the post reads. It added that it'll continue to look into the problems along with SIE.

Read more