On the identical day Apple introduced the release date of Vision Pro, Sony stunned CES 2024 by unveiling a product that nobody anticipated on the world’s greatest tech occasion: a high-end XR headset that rivals Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional in capabilities and design.
This Sony-Siemens head-mounted show will arrive later in 2024 and can function 4K OLED microdisplays, the brand new Qualcomm XR2+ Gen 2 chipset, wearable controllers, and a design that has echoes of Sony’s PSVR2 however can also be distinctive and enticing with clear curves and a minimalist aesthetic.
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The XR headset was unveiled through the opening keynote of CES 2024, delivered by Siemens. As Siemens CES Roland Busch extolled the advantages of the commercial metaverse and “digital twins” for accelerating the way forward for product improvement, he welcomed Sony’s Yoshinori Matsumoto to unveil the product that may carry Siemens’ imaginative and prescient to life.
Whereas Apple Vision Pro has “professional” within the title, it is aimed broadly at customers and professionals. This Sony-Siemens headset won’t be used to look at 3D films, play immersive video games, or meditate in VR on the highest of a digital mountain in Yosemite Nationwide Park. Nevertheless, it may very well be used to create these sorts of apps and experiences for Imaginative and prescient Professional, Meta Quest, or different headsets.
It’ll even be used to prototype and design a lot of real-world merchandise. It’s solely aimed toward professionals, engineers, and product designers, and it’s meant to be a content material creation gadget that can streamline product improvement by creating 3D prototypes in digital environments.
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However, the headset clearly has a really considerate design that Apple, Meta, and different headset makers may study from. I’ve used numerous completely different headsets and have already tried the Vision Pro and there are notably two issues I want Apple’s gadget needed to match this Sony XR product.
Two Sony options I want Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional had
1. Flip-up facial interface
The very first thing I seen concerning the Sony headset was the truth that the facial interface and the show flips up and down to be able to simply and shortly soar out of the headset after which soar again in. This is likely one of the greatest challenges whenever you’re utilizing the Meta Quest 3 and different VR headsets.
The design of the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional makes it clear that it’ll have the identical difficulty — although Apple’s strategy is to have high-resolution passthrough so you’ll be able to work together along with your environment. With the Quest 3, third-party facial straps like those from BoboVR have change into extremely popular — particularly amongst VR app builders who usually swap between their computer systems and headsets.
Nevertheless, the Sony headset makes it much more seamless because it was designed from the bottom up with this function in thoughts (much like headsets just like the Lynx R1, which I additionally tried at CES). I want all headsets have been designed this fashion.
2. Wearable controllers
The Sony headset additionally includes a pair of wearable controllers within the type of a hoop and a pointer which have a really futuristic vibe and a sensible utility for working in digital areas. This will get to one among my greatest questions on how effectively the Imaginative and prescient Professional will work for professionals.
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Whereas the Imaginative and prescient Professional’s interface may be very intuitive, I’m wondering if hand and eye monitoring alone shall be exact and environment friendly sufficient to make use of for lengthy intervals of time and manipulate 3D fashions (“digital twins”) in digital areas. As my buddy Scott Stein at CNET wrote about Sony’s device, “The headset’s ring and stylus/pointer controllers are its most unusual options.”
At CES, I additionally tried the Nolo VR Glass and its companion Nolo Air Ring, so I bought to see first-hand how helpful and pure a hoop wearable may be in VR. I am not suggesting Apple ought to change its glorious eye monitoring or hand monitoring. However there are skilled purposes like 3D modeling and prototyping the place supporting add-on units much like Sony’s ring and pointer may add to the effectiveness of Imaginative and prescient Professional and make it extra prepared for prolonged use in skilled environments.
To be clear, the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional will do effective with out each of those options. I am assured that demand for the headset shall be off-the-charts and customers that attempt it are going to be wowed by the expertise — particularly spatial video, spatial photographs, and panoramas in spatial computing. It’ll get much more individuals enthusiastic about VR, AR, and XR.
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However the place these two options matter — and the place Sony bought it proper — is in relation to professionals, builders, and other people spending lengthy hours in a headset with a should be as environment friendly and purposeful as attainable with their time. These are issues for Apple to think about for future variations of the Professional line of Apple Imaginative and prescient.