Earlier this year, Sony took the wraps off a mixed reality headset it calls its “spatial content creation system”. The XR headset is intended to help folks making content for VR and AR systems by giving them an interface that jibes well with said systems.
Following the announcement, Sony went fairly quiet about the system. It was waiting for the Augmented World Expo (AWE), currently running in California, to take the hardware out for a spin.
Sony’s alternate reality
Potential users have to be in attendance (like the folks in the video above) in order to experience the tech. It’s not dissimilar to Meta’s Quest 3 or Sony’s own PlayStation VR in terms of design, both in the headset and controllers, but with a substantially upgraded display. It’s for creators, rather than end users and we reckon that eventual pricing will reflect that.
The Japanese company reckons that its XR headset offers “visual clarity, performance and intuitive manipulation of virtual objects, setting a new standard for immersive spatial content creation”. It’s probably not too hard to come out on top on that last point, since there are few competitors in the field of “immersive spatial content creation”, at least for the moment. Still, the hardware could lead to more intuitive VR and AR content being developed, since developers are able to interact with their creations in the same way end-users finally will.
AWE 2024 is not exactly another E3 — it’s in Long Beach instead of Los Angeles, for one — but the event showcases upcoming virtual and augmented tech from around the world. Sony and Siemens’ partnership on this new AR headset is just the beginning for the company. Glasses-free 3D displays, along the lines of hardware already available from Acer, and enterprise-grade 3D displays are also on offer at the event. Other brands, less well-known than the PlayStation makers, also have item showcases this weekend.