Here are tips and tricks we use to avoid getting sick and tangled in the PlayStation VR2 and similar VR headsets.
Sony’s PlayStation VR2 arrived this week, and while it’s one of the best virtual reality headsets we’ve ever used, there’s still a number of common VR pitfalls and PSVR 2-specific annoyances new buyers might run into.
Whether this is your first VR headset or just your most recent purchase, here are a handful of tips that might keep you from getting sick, tripping on a cord, running out of battery, or — and we hear this is particularly common — thinking Sony shipped you a blurry VR headset when it’s probably just a trick of the light.
In fact, let’s start with that one.
If you want a clear image and a comfortable fit that doesn’t drag down on the front of your head, you need to wear it properly. Take a good look at the picture above.
See how the entire headset is tilted slightly upward? See how the back of the headband is beneath the back of my colleague Adi’s head, while the front lies on top of her forehead? That’s what you should be aiming for. The PSVR 2 should rest on your head, secured diagonally — notsandwich the front and back of your head in a vice. In fact, I wouldn’t cinch down the headband at all until you’ve aligned the lenses with your eyes.
Even if you’ve used a VR headset before, you might think the PSVR 2 looks blurry inside. That’s because Sony’s patented custom Fresnel lenses have a remarkably small sweet spot, which is the only place the image looks perfectly crisp. And you’ll need to physically move the headset on your face to find that sweet spot.
Sony does walk you through a lens alignment tutorial when you first put on the headset — one you can summon again from Settings > Accessories > Adjust Lens Distance if you like — but it only instructs you to twist an adjustment dial on the top left edge of the headset to move the lenses closer or farther apart while the eye-tracking camera estimates the position of your eyes.
You also need to physically shove the entire eyebox up and down, and maybe even tilt it left or right like you’re straightening a picture on your wall. Want an example? In the photo above, my lenses are the right distance apart, but the entire headset isn’t yet level.
If you’ve done it right, you should see an incredibly sharp image when you’re looking straight ahead, crisp enough to make out the edges of pixels.
Then, you can finish cinching down the headset with that clicky dial. It shouldn’t feel like it’s squeezing your brain; just twist until you don’t lose that sweet spot when you shake your head up, down, left and right.
The more games my colleagues and I play on the PSVR 2, the more we get tangled up in its 14.7-foot cord. Turns out it’s especially easy to trip when you’re playing intense, death-dodging games like Pistol Whip, Pavlov and Resident Evil Village.