Sony and Siemens revealed an XR (Xtended Reality) headset collab at CES 2024. Launching later this year, the headset was developed with business in mind, and that’s apparent from multiple aspects of it.
Sony designed the new headset for businesses, engineers, and developers to explore and model 3D environments. It also targets product designers for testing and prototyping their product iterations. This is unlike the Apple Vision Pro and the Meta Quest, which are more for the average consumer to play games or watch movies. Sony already has a foot in that market with its PSVR2.
Sony’s headset comes with a Qualcomm XR2+ Gen 2 chipset and 4K OLED microdisplays. Unlike its rivals, it has a set of physical controls, too. There’s a wearable ring accessory to wear, as well as a stylus/controller hybrid.
My personal favourite feature on this headset is its flippable visor. Other mainstream headsets are a pain to take off, but Sony’s headset sports a flip-up display. Whenever you need to hop out into the real world for a bit, you can easily prop the facial interface up without having to take the entire headset off. This could be a quality-of-life feature for professionals who will have to quickly jump from VR to their computer screen.
While Sony’s headset may not steal the spotlight from Apple and its Vision Pro coming out next month, it could find its way into more offices with its business-focused approach. Sony didn’t provide a release date or a price for the headset.