When the history of 21st Century technology is written, 2016 will be recorded as the Year of Virtual Reality.
That's because while there have been many false dawns, this year the technology has finally come of age.
A combination of big developments in sensors, huge strides in graphics and progressive improvements in computing power mean virtual reality has at long last become, well, a reality.
Today, Sony's foray into the VR market will finally hit the shelves here in Ireland.
Sony Playstation VR is a wired, head worn virtual reality headset, powered by the PS4, which the Japanese giant hopes will drive its market share upwards.
This week I had a chance to try the device for an hour at a preview event in Dublin.
I was keen to do so, because while I had experienced the main competitors to the Playstation VR - the HTC Vive and the Facebook owned Oculus Rift - I hadn't tried the Sony product.
The headset is a smooth, curvaceous device, reasonably light to wear at 610g, and it fitted pretty comfortably.
It consists of a 5.7 inch (14.5cm) OLED screen set inside the visor unit, which has a resolution of 1920x1080, and a 100 degree field of view.
There is an in-built microphone, but no integrated headphones, as well as HDMI and USB connections.
I began my demo with a pretty gruesome first person shooting game, called London Heist, during which I drove through the streets of the British capital with a pretty unsavoury accomplice, taking out other hoodlums on motorbikes and in vehicles.
I was blown away (pardon the pun) by the realistic nature of it all, in particular the ability to tamper with my surroundings, like open the car door and pick up and reload magazines for my gun.
The Playstation Move motion controllers were responsive and accurate, and comfortable to use.
Next I moved on to Rush of Blood, a seasonally appropriate trip on a horror rollercoaster, in a strange world inhabited by giant dead pigs, ghosts and yes, some creepy clowns!
My role was once again to shoot things that posed a threat.
I had experienced a rollercoaster on other VR headsets, and this was every bit as good, if not better than the competitors.
I found it very difficult to not get sucked into the immersive nature of my virtual surroundings.
Battle Zone was the next game I tried – a first person tank adventure in an industrial complex, where I was apparently the planet’s last hope in the battle against the enemy.
Once again, I was quickly sucked in, forgetting my physical attachment to the real world.
This game required use of the regular Playstation DualShock controller, and I struggled a little to get on top of the multiple control options for the game in the little time I spent using it.
Ocean Descent brought me into a cavern at the bottom of the sea, where I marvelled at the realistic nature of the marine life swimming all around me.
It was more of a passive experience than a game, although it was tricky to remain completely passive near the end when the great white shark attacked!
Thankfully I don't know what it is like to stare into the open jaws of such a creature, but based on my experience of Ocean Descent, I'd rather not!
Finally I tried Headmaster – a quirky but rather slow moving football heading practice game.
Maybe it was me, or maybe it was the Playstation VR, but I found it tricky to get my own heading action to translate into an accurate virtual response.
It was fun though, and only served to underline for me something I’ve known since childhood – football isn't my best game.
In total there will be 50 games brought to market between now and the end of 2017.
All told, I found the Playstation VR to be a top notch alternative to the high quality of HTC’s Vive and Oculus’ Rift.
A few quibbles include that I found my head getting pretty warm and sticky while wearing the headset, which led to some clouding of the screen.
I also felt a little nauseous at the end of it all.
That, however, could be more a consequence of using the device for an hour straight with very little break, and hopping from one game to another, than the fault of the technology.
Because I found the picture quality to be really good, notwithstanding some obvious pixilation on the screen which will presumably disappear as the resolution increases in the future.
There was, though, little evidence of latency or lag between actual movement and virtual movement, with the 120 frames per second refresh rate clearly up to the job.
And the 3D audio is superb.
The two biggest things that the Playstation VR has going for it, though, are price and compatibility.
At €399 for the headset, processor unit, stereo ear buds, cables and eight game demo disc, it is far cheaper that the Vive (€929) and Rift (€699).
Even with the extra cost of buying a DualShock or Move controller, and a Playstation Camera, it’s still great value – assuming of course you have a PS4.
Because that's the other bonus for PS4 owners. No need to invest in a high powered PC to run this headset, as is required for the Rift and Vive.
If you have any PS4, you are good to go.
And it’s these two reasons, and the high quality of the device, that will likely result in the Playstation VR becoming a huge success.
Comments welcome via Twitter to @willgoodbody
