As PS4 virtual reality rumors swirl, Sony schedules "innovation at PlayStation" event for next week

Next week during a Game Developers Conference session in San Francisco, Sony will give a presentation on "innovation at PlayStation and the future of gaming," it was announced on the event's website.

Leading the presentation will be SCEA senior director of R&D Richard Marks and SCEA senior software engineer Anton Mikhailov, also of the company's R&D department. PlayStation president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida will also speak during the session, which will be held Tuesday, March 18 at 5:45 p.m. PDT.

No other details about the GDC session were revealed, but its announcement comes as Sony is expected to officially announce its long-rumored PlayStation 4 virtual reality headset during the show. An "inside source" speaking with TechRadar said last month that Sony's Oculus Rift competitor is coming along nicely, noting the "quality and resolution are really, really good."

Of course, Sony already has a line of dedicated head-mounted displays. But this new virtual reality headset is believed to be tailored specifically for gaming purposes. Its announcement would come as little surprise, as PS4 lead system architect Mark Cerny said last month that virtual reality could be a major force in the industry over the next decade.

"The impact of virtual reality technologies could be pretty significant going forward in that time frame," Cerny said at the time.