CES 2024: Sony Lays Their Footprint In Various Industries
100 Years of Columbia
At their CES 2024 press conference, Sony dedicated a lot of time to celebrate 100 years of Columbia Motion Pictures. Generations of filmmakers have empowered their ideas using technology and the resources of the Japanese titan and Sony made sure to give these people who use their creative efforts in the film industry a shout out. Using Sony’s innovative technology, new production opportunities can be developed and delivered to the big screen. Torch Light gives filmmakers use cases of real-time technology to plot out pre-production processes like creating storyboards and brainstorming. It also gives filmmakers space and tools to experiment with new concepts and unique ways of storytelling. Ideas can move to visualization in real time.
Continuing their film legacy, Sony announced that it will produce the live action adaptation of the IP from their gaming revival, Nintendo, The Legend of Zelda. A slate of new movies are also on the horizon as Bad Boys 4, Ghostbusters Frozen Empire, Karate Kid, Kraven The Hunter, Madame Web, and Venom 3 are all on the slate for future releases. Some sooner than later.
Afeela Update
Unveiled at last year's CES, the Sony Honda Mobility Afeela was dramatically driven out to the stage with a Sony Playstation 5 controller. It wasn’t clear why they demonstrated this as they followed it up by stating this would not be a feature in the production line. The Afeela aims to redefine the relationship between people and mobility and Sony Honda Mobility spent some time introducing its combination of lidar and radar that will be infused with Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Surprisingly, Sony also showcased the Snapdragon Ride SoC and how it will use the Epic Games Unreal Engine 5.3 for collection of data as well as driving simulations. In one screenshot, a car was driving under a monster in the street while projecting the real street path. Sony aims to develop this type of technology and innovation to drive creativity during mobile scenarios in a vehicle like this.
Gaming and Entertainment
On the gaming front, Sony touted the success of it’s current gent console as the Playstation 5 has recently surpassed 50 million units sold and the just logged a record high for monthly active users at 123 million users in December of 2023. Their gaming IPs have branched off successfully to other media formats like God of War for Prime Video and Horizon Zero Dawn for Netflix, both of which will go into production soon. Other Sony game franchises that have transitioned successfully were Twisted Metal and The Last of Us, both of which found a following with viewers last year.
The Japanese company is also fully invested in another stable of Japanese culture, anime, through their investment in Aniplex and Crunchyroll. The studio is working on a live action adaptation of the popular shonen series, One Punch Man. Being a proud advocate of building communities of interests, Sony has their footprint in many industries and seems to be going strong for 2024 and beyond.
Ben
The complex integration of buildings and automobiles always intrigued Ben. So much so that he dedicated his life to further his knowledge of technological development in building design. Whether he’s on a job site with new homes or in a studio designing a home, Ben understands the smarts required inside a home.