What Sony announced at its CES 2024 press conference
Sony is entering the mixed reality headset space.
The annual Consumer Technology Association (CES) trade show is nearly upon us, having already turned Las Vegas into a high-tech wonderland. Sony’s holding a press conference the day before CES 2024 exhibitions open, on January 8 at 8PM EST. You can stream it live via Sony Square or on the company’s YouTube channel.
What we expect
Sony is being particularly cagey about what it has in store, saying it will “showcase various technologies and initiatives that support creators.” An official company press release also says Sony’s purpose here is to “fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology.”
There was a holding image on Sony’s website that seemed to indicate that the presser would focus on technology involving movie production, professional sound and VR. Those three together could certainly, uh, fill the world with emotion. The original teaser image showed the Ghostbusters logo, a man singing into a microphone and a film crew. However, Sony replaced this image with a simple visual showing a bunch of nondescript circles.
While we don’t know what Sony will focus on, we have some ideas of what the company is likely to avoid. Last year, Sony didn’t mention TVs at all, saving that for an event in March. It’s possible we’ll get something PlayStation related, but with the recent launch of the PS5 Slim and the befuddling PlayStation Portal, don’t hold your breath.
We could, however, get some game announcements for the PSVR2. Sony revealed a VR Gran Turismo 7 update at last year’s press conference. It’s also possible that Sony will announce some home theater products to go along with that whole “creativity and technology” thing.
Sony likes to use CES to reveal experimental tech that may or may ever see an actual release. Last year we got the Afeela EV concept vehicle, a partnership with Honda, so who knows what wacky tech will take center stage this year. Sony also revealed a truly innovative kit for PS5 controllers to help players with disabilities during 2023’s event.
What Sony announced
According to our own reporters on the ground, Sony's CES 2024 news conference didn't have much actual news for the first 25 minutes, at which point things took an interesting turn. The company unveiled a new mixed reality headset for 'spatial content creation,' which Sony's partner in the venture, Siemens, later said will power "whatever the industrial metaverse is." Also, for good measure, someone drove Sony's Afeela EV onto the stage. If you missed it all live, we have a sub-six-minute recap live on our site and YouTube page ready for you to watch.
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.
