Sony recently unveiled a new name for their virtual reality gaming platform -- Playstation VR. The question on our minds is, "How will this affect consumer adoption of the actual headsets?"

In June 2015, when Touchstone Research, our co-researchers on the upcoming VR Consumer Report, asked 504 U.S. tweens & teens aged 10-17 years old about whether they had heard of virtual reality, 79% of the sample had heard of VR and could name specific products in their answers.

When asked about awareness of specific brands, their response was interesting: 33% of tweens & teens said they were aware of Sony’s Project Morpheus.

This number is significant when you compare these results to the other major brands and when you consider Sony's reluctance to provide information about their headset to the general public. Yet, with the name change, Sony has committed a popular, decades-old brand to the emerging consumer virtual reality market. The previous name was a placeholder but our data indicates that consumers recognized it. Will this trend continue after the re-branding? What will be the effect on brand recall and purchase intent? We'll publish the new results in our VR Industry Report (available for sale now), but considering the relevance of the Playstation brand in the gaming community, we expect Playstation VR to resonate for informed and uninformed consumers alike.