PlayStation VR 2 May Finally Get This Long-Awaited Feature – Here’s What We Know

Sony may finally equip its PlayStation VR 2 with a highly anticipated feature. Here's everything we know so far.

Sony Unveils Unexpected Feature for PlayStation VR 2

At the Siggraph 2024 Asia event in Tokyo, a hub for graphical and interactive technologies, electronics giant Sony revealed a highly anticipated feature for the PlayStation VR 2: hand tracking.

Enhancing VR Immersion

The PlayStation VR stands out, yet it has lagged behind competitors like Meta’s Quest and HTC Vive due to its reliance on controllers, which made the experience feel more like watching TV than being in an immersive virtual environment. “This feature is currently under development,” noted a user who posted a video of someone playing a VR game using just their hands.

Upcoming Game Integration?

According to a follow-up report by UploadVR.com, a description at Sony’s booth stated that hand tracking is now part of the latest PlayStation 5 development kit (SDK). This development suggests that game developers could start incorporating this feature into their games immediately. Additionally, the PSVR 2 reportedly supports smooth 60FPS hand tracking with low latency.

Awaiting Sony’s Official Announcement

While Sony has not yet officially announced this feature, a brief mention was found in an overview of Sony’s demonstrations at Siggraph 2024: “Experience intuitive operation in a game using a low-latency hand tracking feature for PS VR2, available with the latest PlayStation®5 development kit.” Hand tracking in VR significantly enhances immersion by allowing users to interact with the virtual environment using their hands instead of controllers. While this addition is promising for PlayStation, it remains to be seen if it will revitalize the device.

As we await an official announcement from Sony on this feature, here’s a list of some of the best VR headsets currently available, most of which already include this functionality.