Sony’s new spatial headset will power whatever 'the industrial metaverse’ is
Partner Siemens pitched it during CES 2024 as a device to "solve real world problems.”
We didn’t have to wait long to get more details about Sony's new mixed reality headset. Just after Sony teased the “spatial content creation” device onstage at CES 2024, we got a fresh look, and a few more details about the headset during Siemens’ keynote in Las Vegas.
The two companies are teaming up on the device as part of a broader vision to enable an “industrial metaverse” where mixed reality plays a central role in businesses’ manufacturing and design processes. It’s still not clear what the device is actually called — Siemens’ press release refers to it only as “Sony’s new spatial content creation system,” — but the company shared that the headset will be available beginning “later in 2024.”
We also got a new look at the headset itself which, according to Siemens, is equipped with “4K OLED microdisplays.” And, as we noted during Sony’s keynote, the device will be enabled with some unusual-looking controllers. It appears there’s one worn on the finger and another, larger controller that looks more like a typical VR controller.
The two companies also showed off a number of potential use cases for the tech. For example, Red Bull Racing’s engineering and design teams will use the headset to visualize the cockpit of a Formula One car (the Red Bull rep onstage said it was still “early days for us at the moment” regarding the tech).
Siemens is pitching the headset as a tool to enable what the company has dubbed the “industrial metaverse,” which CEO Dr. Roland Busch defined as “an immersive space where people and AI can collaborate in real time to solve real world problems.”
The keynote seemed to confirm that the headset is intended to be used in industrial and professional settings rather than consumer ones. As expected, this is not an Apple Vision Pro competitor. But it could still open up some interesting new possibilities for mixed reality that may be more appealing than VR workstations.
We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.
