This is Sony’s special reality display and you can buy it in November for 5,000


Two days ago, I received a huge heavy metal wedge from Sony. The largest side includes a camera marrow and a 15.6-inch 4K screen.

I plugged it into a powerful gaming computer, and fired the first demo. A small, intricately detailed Volkswagen Atlas made in front of my face – and when I pressed a button, it floated straight Out Of the screen. A few minutes later, I was watching a 4 inch tall anime girl dance her heart out Inside Sony’s paradox is tapping his foot on the floor of the hexagonal mirror. That is the magic of stereoscopic 3D.

The wedge is Sony’s new local reality display, and it’s far from a new idea – the industry’s latest attempt to create their so-called “holographic displays” for the world’s content creators, who want to see their digital objects and designs appear in their physical space. At પણ 5,000, it’s not the least expensive – 15.6 inches, 4K looking glass costs 3,000 3,000, and allows multiple people to view those images at once.

But Sony says the high-speed face- and eye-tracking camera, real-time algorithms and extremely nice, precisely adjusted lenticular lens, provide a clearer image than any previous display. And while I don’t have a competitor to try together, and I can’t really show you any examples on your 2D computer screen, Sony’s demos were mostly pretty impressive.

A close-up video I shot while moving my phone, to show how a lenticular lens provides different perspectives for each eye.
GIF: Sean Hollister / Edge

I have to admit, the illusion is easy to break. You’re looking at approximately 13 “6 by 5” and virtual diorama by my estimates, and any virtual objects or objects larger than that will just cut through the display edge. If you’re too close or too lean on either side, Sony’s camera won’t be able to track you and the 3D effect may twitch and disappear. The image was also tweeted when my wife tried to get a glimpse with me. Maybe the camera can’t hold me with multiple people.

But those limitations didn’t make me pierce into a rest restaurant rent with its small wooden chairs and tables, counting each cobbler stone in a beautiful bistro scene – each with its own curved metal armrests and individual slates – admiring details like hanging plant baskets. Lampposts and wires of colored lights spread on the road, and Approximately Tilt enough to see through the arch on the right.

Flat pictures don’t do it justice. Imagine if this diorama was in front of you.
Photo: Sean Hollister / The Kir.

Later, I get a glimpse of the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 in all its glory, including the full interior, twin-rimmed steering wheel, loads of glaming chrome handles and trim reflecting a real-time light source, and 31 full-functional lights. Its spinning blinkers and rocket taillights. It’s also compatible with Leap Motion for demo (and display) 3D gesture control, though I found it a little lighter.

Personally, I already think you can get a better understanding of virtual objects objects with a better VR headset than a screen like this, but Sony claims that its target audience wants a stable monitor that can live on top of their desk.

Most of the demos were built in Unity, although Sony says it has SDK for both unity and unreal, and says it should be easy to port VR content from both platforms. The company says that the 500-nit 4K display supports 100 percent of the Adobe RBB color gamut, and while Sony recommends running at least the Intel Core i7-9700K and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super or better, it comes with it. Is. 2.1 Built-in proprietary speaker system that comes out loud (and has dedicated volume buttons on the top edge)

Sony says it has already seeded new exhibitions with engineers at companies including Volkswagen, Filmmakers Ghostbusters Studio Ghost Corps, and “one of the largest architectural companies in the world”. But the company doesn’t want to limit potential adoption for partners – it will start selling directly to anyone it wants on its own website in November.

You can use it as a flat monitor in a pinch, but lenticular lenses seem to have very little response that way.
Photo: Sean Hollister / The Kir

You can also sign up to join a virtual demo on October 22nd at 3pm ET, though, I can’t imagine what will help your mind about what you need to see in 3D.