Early next year, at the Consumer Electronics Show 2025, Sony will showcase its long-awaited and much-hyped XR headset. Over the course of 2024, and starting at this year’s CES event in January, Sony grabbed the attention of the XR world with its device aimed at a broader XR user market, moving away from the PSVR VR gaming portfolio of past years.
At CES 2025, the upcoming Sony XR Head-Mounted Display SRH-S1 will receive the event’s XR Technologies & Accessories Innovation Award alongside a range of other leading technology firms creating emerging solutions for chosen markets.
Gary Shapiro, the CEO of CTA, added:
The honorees selected this year represent the range of innovation we will see at CES 2025, with products touching all areas of technology including the entire AI ecosystem. The record-breaking number of CES Innovation Awards submissions for CES 2025 shows how tech innovation continues to solve the world’s biggest challenges that change the people’s lives.
Sony gains recognition following the CES 2025 awards program receiving a record-breaking number of submissions. According to the event organisers, the CES Innovation Awards received over 3,400 submissions, which is roughly a 13% increase compared to CES 2024.
Kinsey Fabrizio, the President of CTA, also added:
Technology is reshaping industries, enhancing products and creating experiences that improve lives in ways we never thought possible. From unlocking new efficiencies in agriculture and mining to improving care for our pets, the tech at CES 2025 will allow attendees to dive in to the trends transforming our world.
CES 2025 uses an independent panel review procedure to choose the firm awarded in each category. Sony’s submission gained recognition based on the XR Head-Mounted Display SRH-S1 device’s ability to showcase innovation, functionality, aesthetics, and design.
The CES 2025 independent panel consists of relevant experts in industry design, engineering, and media leaders who rank the top-rated entries across each category.
This year’s categories cover a range of emerging technology solutions outside of the XR realm. However, some other notable immersive technology winners include minVerse by Haply Robotics, which was recognised in the CES Metaverse innovation category.
Moreover, honourees in the CES 2025 innovation award portfolio include WATA AI, SPAID, DEEP.FINE, iPOP, UNISTELLAR, CELLiCo, AGC, NationA, Swave Photonics, Blockchain Sports XR, Neuranics Limited, Kose Corporation, Hanyand University, Quester Inc, Wearable Devices Ltd, SCALe Virtual, Zhuhau Mojie Technology, NEWJAK, and XREAL.
Sony’s Busy 2024 in XR
As stated, at the start of the year, Sony announced the development of an XR headset as part of an “immersive spatial content creation system.” Unveiled at CES 2024, the Japanese conglomerate described the system as including an XR head-mounted display featuring high-quality 4K OLED Microdisplays and a video see-through function. Alongside the headset, a pair of controllers have been designed by Sony for intuitive interaction with 3D objects with precise pointing capabilities, including a conventional controller and a smart ring device.
Sony has worked with Siemens and Qualcomm to develop the XR system, Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Siemens Digital Industries, said at the time:
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.
The device is powered by the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 Platform, Qualcomm’s latest XR processor. This advanced processor drives the 4K OLED Microdisplays and offers user and spatial tracking features, ensuring seamless and immersive XR experiences.
Bakadir, Senior Director of Product Management at Qualcomm, also said at the time of the CES 2024 announcement:
We designed our Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 to deliver 4K display resolution, cutting-edge graphics, and unparalleled performance to enable creators to build innovative spatial content that will transform all industries for the better. It’s exciting to see Sony enter the enterprise space with their spatial content creation system and utilise Snapdragon XR technologies to unleash more realistic, detailed, and precise Mixed Reality [and] VR experiences that will help developers and creators push forward an even more immersive future.
Following the device debut at CES 2024, at AWE 2024, Sony Electronics introduced new 3D visualization tools that allow users to see and interact with XR content without the need for smart glasses. This is made possible through the ELF-SR2 (27-inch) and ELF-SR1 (15.6-inch) Spatial Reality Displays, which are designed to enhance professional real-time 3D (RT3D) workflows.
The innovative display technology allows users to avoid cumbersome VR headsets, enabling more extended periods of XR content usage without the challenges associated with traditional hardware. Users can now collaborate on RT3D workflows using Sony’s advanced display solutions, which encompass content creation, design, and visualization capabilities.
Furthermore, Sony integrates its new spatial displays with the echo3D service, enriching the user experience with a 3D digital asset management platform that includes specialized social applications. The echo3D integration provides professionals with a secure way to manage, store, control, optimize, and share 3D content. For instance, it allows users to seamlessly import 3D assets and prepares them for various workflows, including storage, delivery, and analysis.
Further Leaks and Rumours
Sony is currently evaluating the Extended Reality community’s interest in its upcoming yet undisclosed headset. The company has a history of producing virtual reality devices, particularly through its PlayStation VR (PSVR) lineup. Reports suggest that Sony headset development will address a broader range of XR applications this year.
MySmartPrice reported that Sony has filed a request with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for XR hand gesture technology intended for its upcoming headset. Although this request may relate to enhancements to Sony’s existing PSVR lineup, it aligns with the developments surrounding the anticipated new device.
It’s important to note that patent filings do not necessarily indicate a final product. However, they can offer insights into the direction of future XR technologies. Sony’s recent USPTO filing focuses on a hand-gesture-based communication feature that uses sensors in the headset to interpret users’ hand and finger movements as nonverbal inputs, commands, and messages.
The patent, titled “System and Methods for Enabling Communication Between Users,” highlights multi-user XR communication within a shared experience, illustrating this concept in a gaming context. Additionally, earlier reports mentioned a ring-style controller that would allow headset users to interact with the upcoming Sony device, further complementing the innovative input vision suggested by the recent hand-gesture patent.
Moreover, recent information from a SIG certification emerged suggesting that Sony’s forthcoming XR headset will debut later this year. Sony confirmed earlier in the year that its XR headset will debut in 2024; however, the recent SIG listing appeared to confirm this speculation at the time-but obviously this leak did not prove accurate.
