For the project, Sony will collaborate with companies
developing 3D production software, including those in the entertainment and
industrial design fields, the Japan-based conglomerate further stated.
According to Sony, the system is aimed at supporting
creators in sophisticated 3D content creation. The company plans to collaborate
with developers of a variety of 3D production software, including in the
entertainment and industrial design fields.
At launch, Sony has exclusively partnered with Siemens, a
leader in industrial technology, to introduce a new solution for immersive
design and collaborative product engineering using software from the Siemens
Xcelerator open digital business platform.
“Siemens is partnering with Sony to enable immersive
engineering, a critical building block for the industrial metaverse. Together,
we are creating an environment where it will be possible to experience the
realities of physics, without the bounds of time to profoundly improve how our
customers work and collaborate,” said Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing
Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Siemens Digital Industries.
Sony stated that the system will be available later in 2024,
and that further details including specs, launch date and regions, pricing,
sales channels, and software compatibility will be announced by Sony and its
partners, however the company did not specify exactly when this additional
information would be released.
The new spatial content creation system will enable
real-time, high-definition and realistic rendering of textures of 3D objects
and facial expressions of human characters, according to Sony. In addition to
“video see-through” functionality (which presumably is what the company is
using to refer to video passthrough) and spatial recognition with six cameras
and sensors in total, the system also features two new controllers.
One is a “ring controller” that allows users to intuitively
manipulate objects in virtual space, the other is a “pointing controller” that
enables precise pointing, allowing creators to see real-scale 3D models and
craft in virtual space with controllers and keyboards, all while wearing the
head-mounted display. Remote, real-time review and collaboration will also be
possible through integration with third-party 3D creation applications,
according to Sony.
The HMD will utilize the recently announced Snapdragon XR2+
Gen 2 Platform to unlock the power of the device’s 4K OLED Microdisplays.
Additionally, the chipset will provide user and space tracking for seamless XR
experiences.
Said Bakadir, Senior Director, Product Management of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., stated: “It’s exciting to see Sony enter the enterprise space with their spatial content creation system and utilize Snapdragon XR technologies to unleash more realistic, detailed, and precise Mixed Reality (MR)/VR experiences that will help developers and creators push forward an even more immersive future.”
Sony has previously released technologies that complement
spatial content creation and facilitate use of 3D CG in various creative
fields, including its mobile motion capture system mocopi that enables
full-body motion tracking, or its Spatial Reality Displays that provide highly
realistic, three-dimensional content without the need for special glasses or
virtual reality (VR) headsets. Sony stated that by introducing this latest
immersive spatial content creation system and collaborating with 3D creation software
developers, it aims to “further empower spatial content creators to transcend
boundaries between the physical and virtual realms for more immersive creative
experiences.”
Main Features
The head-mounted display is equipped with large-size,
high-definition 1.3-type OLED Microdisplays with 4K resolution and a wide color
gamut that covers up to 96% of DCI-P3, allowing for detailed and realistic
rendering of 3D object textures and facial expressions of human characters,
according to Sony.
Additionally, by supporting split rendering, which
distributes the rendering load between computers and the HMD, the system is
capable of stable and high-definition rendering of large-size 3D models.
As noted above, the system also comes with two controllers –
a ring controller for manipulating objects, and a pointing controller for
stable and accurate pointing in virtual spaces. From a design point of view,
the HMD features a flip-up mechanism that allows the wearer to easily and
seamlessly move between physical and virtual spaces.
Sony added that it is seeking to collaborate with various 3D
production software developers, in both the entertainment and industrial design
fields. Through its partnership with Siemens, the two companies will work to
bring innovative immersive engineering capabilities to the manufacturing
industry via an integration with Siemens’ new NX Immersive Designer software, a
product engineering solution from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of industry
software.
Additional Info you need to know about the system:
(1.) The equipment comes with an XR head-mounted display
with 4K OLED Microdisplays and the in-house proprietary rendering technology.
(2.) There is also a video see-through functionality,
spatial recognition (with six cameras and sensors in total), a ring controller
to allow users to manipulated objects in virtual space, and a controller for
precise pointing (while wearing the head-mounted display).
(3.) The system is powered by Snapdragon XR2+Gen 2 platform,
the latest XR processor from Qualcomm Technologies. Besides delivering
‘stunning’ image quality via the Microdisplays, the processor offers a
‘high-performance platform’ for people's creative workflow, said Sony.
(4.) Germany's Siemens AG, a leader in industrial
technology, is one ‘partner’ that Sony has already collaborated with. At
launch, the latter introduced a new solution for immersive design developed
with software from the Siemens Xcelerator open digital business platform.
(5.) In terms of availability, the system will go on sale
later this year, the company said.