aNewDomain — You know the future-forward MWC 2016 announcement that Sony has been teasing on with YouTube?
Well, a Sony scheduled Feb. 22 press event will likely include an unveiling of its long-rumored virtual reality headset, the Sony Xperian VR, sources tell aNewDomain.
A headset and/or earbuds offering SurroundSound quality audio for its bundled games could also be released at its Feb. 22 event at the big mobile show, sources add. MWC 2016 opens Monday in Barcelona.
Also expected: Tiny, smart in-ear headphones capable of basic messaging tasks, fitness tracking and music-playing.
That’s interesting and all, but we wanted details.
Public documents filed with the FCC didn’t turn up much for us this time. But a quick trip through recent Sony patents and patent applications was illuminating. According to those docs, summed up below, here’s what you can expect this week at MWC 2016 — and beyond.
A see-through display mode …
According to Sony patent application No. 20160025978, “Virtual Reality Headset with See-Through Mode,” the upcoming Sony VR set will operate in see-through (transparent) and flat (opaque) settings, and allow screen viewing of a connected Sony gaming system, too.
Sony VR Patent App 1 US20160025978A1
A mounting for a wired or Wi-Fi connected smartphone, which renders the content …
In early December 2015, the USPTO published this intriguing Sony application (No. 20150348327), titled “Head Mounted Device (HMD) System Having Interface With Mobile Computing Device for Rendering Virtual Reality Content.” The application describes a VR headset with a mounting that allows for a wired or wireless connected smartphone for rendering the content on the head-mounted display.
Sony VR Patent Application 2 20150348327
It is less likely to make you throw up …
Or so Sony hopes, according to its patent application (No. 20160042566), titled “Sensory Stimulus Management in a Head-Mounted Display.”
“A sudden transition from real live images to a virtual world displayed on the HMD may confuse the senses and create the possibility for vertigo,” explains Sony in the application.” Also, if the HMD presents a great deal of sensory information changing rapidly (e.g., lots of motion and moving elements in a 3-D display), vertigo or dizziness is also possible.”
The answer in this invention is to gradually transition users between reality and virtual reality, through clever use of its see-through mode display. Read more below.
Its camera/accelerometer will know when you move your head, so the blended virtual/real world images you see don’t look weird …”
Sony VR Patent App 4 US20160035140A1
It’s got the Terminator feature.
See a person or object in the real-world, and the VR headset can display text or images around it. This application (US20160025985), published in late January 2016, is called “Head-mounted display and image processing method in head-mounted display.”
Sony VR Patent App 5 US20160025985A1
For aNewDomain, I’m Gina Smith.
