Sony: streaming, wearables and virtual reality are the future for PlayStation

Sony has outlined its plans for the future with the PlayStation platform during a meeting for developers. The company mainly sees benefits in streaming technology, small devices with sensors and the further application of virtual reality.

The vision for the future was expressed by Andrew House, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, and PS4 system architect Mark Cerny, IGN reports. According to the two, the distribution of games and entertainment could change, among other things, by offering titles streaming, citing the rise of streaming music services and the decline in track downloads. Sony is coming in that area with PlayStation Now after the acquisition of the company Gaikai.

Cerny also cites the emergence of wearables, such as smart watches and equipment to monitor athletes, as an important factor for the future. As wearables become smaller and cheaper, game consoles can also interact with these devices.

Sony also sees a potential breakthrough in virtual reality technology. The quality would now be sufficient to offer users of a VR helmet a good experience. According to Cerny, it is still unclear at this stage exactly how big the role of VR technology will become, also within Sony, but the company indicates that it will continue research into the technology. Sony is working with Project Morpheus, among others, to develop a counterpart for the virtual reality glasses Oculus Rift.