Project Morpheus is due out in the first half of 2016

Sony is slowly closing in on a final release date for its virtual reality headset.

The company revealed at GDC last night that its VR hardware will be released in the first half of 2016.

The machine has also had a bit of a spec boost. The latest design packs a 5.7-inch 1920×1080 screen with a now doubled 120Hz refresh rate (compared to SteamVR’s 90Hz and Oculus Rift’s current 75Hz) and a 100-degree field of view.

Sony has also positioned nine LEDs around the screen’s frame, which apparently lessens the risk of dizziness. Latency has also been reduced and head tracking improved.

Tweaks to the headset’s design also allow it also to sit on a user’s head without the need for grippy bands, while the display unit itself can be removed so user’s can quickly jump in and out of games without having to wrestle with finding the perfect fit each time.

Games used to show off the tech as GDC included underwater adventure The Deep and The London heist, which uses a pair of PlayStation Move controllers to allow users to interact with their environment.

"Our goal with VR is to deliver a sense of presence, making the player feel as though they’ve stepped inside the world of a game," Sony Worldwide Studio president Shuhei Yoshida said. "The new Project Morpheus prototype brings us closer to that goal, as it improves the visual experience and tracking accuracy, both of which are critical to achieving sense of presence.

"Revealing this new prototype is an important step in our journey to release Project Morpheus, but there is more to come. We’ll share additional details at E3 and beyond. In particular, we’ll show more VR games at E3 and later events as we get closer to launch."