- Sony’s new XR headset is focused on content creation
- New sub-brand Xyn covers 3D scanning and creation
- It’s similar to other headsets, with one major design difference
Even without unveiling its line of next-generation Bravia TVs, Sony still has a pretty busy CES 2025. Case in point is Xyn, a new sub-brand from Sony focused on capturing, creating and playing back in space worlds, and I have to go there. practice with the Xyn headset prototype as well as a new 3D capture solution.
The entire line is about spatial creation, so unlike PlayStation VR 2 or Meta Quest 3 or 3S, the Xyn headset is aimed at people and brands – big or small – who want to create content.
The Xyn headset is quite lightweight and takes a familiar shape; I was at home to demo the prototype, which sat easily on my head and, like countless other headsets, could be tightened or loosened via a dial on the back. The real stars here are the fact that it can be self-powered (meaning it doesn’t need to be plugged into another device) and the 4K displays.
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In my practice, a video of which you can see below, I viewed a digital environment on 4K micro-OLED displays – one for each eye. The space around me consisted of terrain, various building elements, and even skeletons. The main event, so to speak, was a group of crystalline rock formations of various shapes and designs; My task was to place them in and around the environment.
And these items weren’t just drawn in a creative app, but rather digitized using another item in the Xyn portfolio. With the controller in hand, I could resize the crystals and place them anywhere, all quite easily. Everything seemed pretty smooth, even for an early prototype. Although the graphics were good, the real difference here is that the screen can easily flip up, putting you back into the real world.
Given that these items were scanned using a station equipped with a traditional Sony Alpha camera that had a phone running a prototype Xyn app attached to it, it makes sense that a flip-up screen potentially allowing view elements of which you create 3D images can be quite handy.
And this process of scanning objects, whether they were crystals, shoes, or even fancy china, was quite simple. I saw a Sony representative take several photos of the object and saw the app on the phone display a heat map that glowed blue in the captured area.
From there it’s processed in the cloud and I can view these 3D models on a custom glasses-free 3D monitor that has a camera for eye tracking to make the effect really pop. I could see this being handy for people who want to get into 3D production, building or creating these assets for the virtual world, and even larger productions.
What’s really nice is the accessibility, as you don’t need a degree in 3D modeling or design, as the app makes the experience quite seamless…at least at this early stage.
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This could potentially help open up space content creation to more people. So while the Xyn headset itself is still a prototype and might not be sold directly to consumers for content consumption, the worlds, objects, and environments potentially created with and modified by Xyn Capture. The perfection on the headset could be seen on more traditional VR platforms in the future.
