Virtual reality headsets put you in the video game
Thanks to the emergence of virtual reality headsets, video games are starting to feel much more realistic. Headsets took center stage this week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, where startups and tech giants were showing off new devices coming this year. With 3D content playing on a screen inches from your eyes, virtual reality headsets are designed to make players feel like they're in the game."The virtual guy in the world gestured toward me and I have to say I kind of flinched a little bit," said Eric Franklin, a senior editor at CNET.com after playing a game while wearing VR goggles. "It was that immersive." Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., said "adding VR as an option for game developers to create totally immersive experience will create more variety of game experiences."Sony showed off the latest version of its Morpheus headset and controllers that get your hands in the game. "It does let you kind of reach out into the world and directly interact with it," Richard Marks, a senior researcher at Sony Computer Entertainment, told CNET.com's Kara Tsuboi. Other big tech players are also helping to bring virtual reality to the mainstream. Facebook acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion last year, boosting confidence in the technology. Google is also getting into virtual reality with Cardboard. Its do-it-yourself kit folds into a headset. Insert your Android or iPhone, download some virtual reality apps and then you can view a virtual reality world. The HTC Vive has sensors that allow you to walk around an entire room without hitting a wall. "Even though I was blinded from it, a ghost wall would appear in my virtual experience," said Scott Stein, a senior editor with CNET.com Microsoft has its own headset: the Hololens, which projects 3D images over the real world.The new virtual reality headsets are expected to hit the market by the end of this year and into early 2016.