Sony's mixed reality headset breaks cover at CES 2024

It's Tuesday, January 09, 2024.

Sony’s big press event at CES 2024 didn’t reveal much for the first half, retreading the company’s entertainment successes in TV, film and music. Then, out of the blue, it revealed an as-yet-unnamed mixed reality headset, with almost anime-looking controllers.

Sony

While there are some design similarities, this isn’t a VR headset à la PSVR. This is for “spatial content creation." The headset is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2, announced just as CES began. This means it’s a self-contained device that doesn’t require a computer. Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said the 4K OLED microdisplays on the headset would offer a “crisp viewing experience” and “intuitive interaction for 3D design.”

The headset has a pair of controllers. One is described as a “ring controller” for manipulating objects and the other as a “pointing controller” for... pointing. Sony envisions creators being able to craft 3D models in real time with them.

It all seems a more creative interpretation of Microsoft’s HoloLens. We haven’t yet seen the headset in person, though. Hopefully, we’ll get more details from Sony’s booth, here in Las Vegas.

Oh, and the company drove its incoming Afeela EV on stage with a PlayStation controller. That’s CES. For all the latest CES news, find all our stories right here.

— Mat Smith

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