Morpheus is the god of dreams in ancient mythology, and also the name of a virtual-reality headset that Sony Corp. says offers a dream-like immersive experience.

Sony Computer Entertainment, which displayed the headset at the Tokyo Game Show this week, isn’t the only company pitching virtual reality. Earlier this year, Facebook Inc. paid $2 billion for California-based Oculus VR, maker of a virtual-reality headset called the Oculus Rift.

But the Sony game unit has a strong base of customers with its popular PlayStation 4 machine, one of the company’s bright spots amid big losses elsewhere.

The goal of Morpheus is to make people feel as if they’re in a totally different setting—listening to a concert, diving in the ocean or feeding dinosaurs in a prehistoric landscape.

To judge from the game show, where Sony allowed users to try the device for the first time in Japan, Morpheus was successful in giving that immersive feeling. Some people trying a sea-exploration game were making swimming-like moves on the ground.

Shuhei Yoshida, who is leading the development team, said a big appeal of the headset is a sensor-equipped control system that allows users to affect the virtual world in real time. It also has surround sound, so users can hear a helicopter approaching from behind and look up to see the aircraft.

Mr. Yoshida declined to say when Morpheus would go on sale or how much it might cost. He offered some hints, saying Sony has finished 85% of the work needed to make the product available. Many of the components are also used in smartphones, he said, suggesting that would help keep the price down.

The Oculus Rift is already available in test-kit form for $350. That version is aimed at game developers, not consumers.

For Sony, game users are the first target audience, but Mr. Yoshida said he hoped to attract non-gamers eventually.

“With the Morpheus and PlayStation 4, we can offer them a totally new virtual reality experience in a lighthearted and fun manner,” he said, citing examples such as virtual travel and education. The 3-D virtual world might allow teachers to show students objects in a way that isn’t possible through textbooks or tablets, he said.

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/09/19/sony-dreams-of-profit-with-morpheus-virtual-reality-headset/

sounds like a holiday 2015 release from this.

Holiday 2015 would be a great time to launch.

Would be awesome if Sony brings back/update PS Move to work with this VR. Would love to play huge open worlds in virtual reality which FPS may be heading if Destiny continues being successful. But I can only play shooters with pointer and mouse.

And i hope the VR headset isn't too expensive.

I'm going to buy this.

I am curious as to which games will be on it... I am more curious as to whether or not Summer Lesson will make it to the west!

Morpheus may have legs to move forward. Since the basic gaming trend is now all online vs sitting on the same TV set with friends. If bundled correctly with a good price point it may make the jump to main stream. Gaming head sets have settled in. The next step would be a VR environment.

I hope it is cross compatible with PC as well!

I know they mention Oculus on price, but any idea what Sony hopes to target their headset at?
All the talk about smartphone technology inside makes me think about images of Google cardboard...
I mean the LG G3 has a 1440x2560p screen.

I am really excited about morpheus... but I fear its biggest limitation will be its cost. I don't really see it costing anything less than $300 for the complete experience. Headset, camera, move controllers and earphones. Morpheus will likely cost as much or even more than a PS4 at the time its released. Thats gonna be a big problem no matter how good it is.

The only way I se it being successful is if the make it PC compatible too.