Sony’s XYN is a tool — and XR headset — for making the metaverse

Sony announced the launch of XYN (/zin/), an integrated software and hardware solution designed to support the creation of spatial content.

Spatial content is another way of saying 3D graphics for applications such as the metaverse, the much-hyped and now unutterable word for spatial computing applications. But you can pretty much call these tools for making the metaverse.

The XYN vision

It’s part of an incubation center dubbed the XR Business Development Division at Sony. And it’s a three-part system involving mocap sensors on mobile, XR head-mounted display and a spatial reality display.

Sony showed off examples of engineers using the headsets for digital twins, which are digital spaces that mirror something in the real world. The point is to perfect a design of a building or object in the digital world before going to the expense of building it in the real world.

It can also be used to design metaverse content, which is meant to be a destination for people to visit in virtual spaces, either for entertainment or enterprise purposes.

In this way, the XYN tech is a bridge between the different parts of Sony’s consumer, gaming and enterprise businesses. And it’s meant to make the act of creation easier when it comes to 3D spatial content. You can imagine game developers at PlayStation using the tools to create ever more realistic 3D spaces for gaming.

How it works

Leveraging Sony’s unique imaging, sensing, and display technologies, XYN accurately captures real-world objects, human motion, and backgrounds, recreating them in virtual environments for 3D computer graphics (CG) production.

By supporting a wide range of third-party tools, it enables flexible workflows. As the fusion of real and virtual worlds accelerates and the demand for 3D CG production in film, animation, games, and industrial design continues to grow, XYN will support intuitive and efficient spatial content creation for a diverse range of creators. Through XYN, Sony will collaborate with creators to develop innovative content for the future together.

I got a good look at the technology in a demo in Tokyo last fall. It’s pretty cool technology aimed at capturing live performances and digitizing them into metaverse spaces.

XYN motion studio

The tools include the XYN Motion Studio, which is a PC application which supports connection with 12 “mocopi” sensors and utilizes Sony’s proprietary algorithms for automatic motion interpolation and auto-tagging functions, that enhances the creative use of motion data. XYN Motion Studio runs on Windows PC and can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store.

It will be available in late March 2025. The mobile motion capture system “mocopi” has been utilized by VTubers and Virtual Reality (VR) social platform users as well as creators in game, film, and animation production. The new XYN Motion Studio enhances precision through connections with 12 sensors via dedicated receivers (professional mode). Mocopi, short for mobile motion capture system, includes six sensors, and professional mode requires two sets of sensors.

The application also adds new functions for motion data, editing, making motion capture more affordable and accessible to creators across various genres.

Another tool is the XYN Spatial capture solution, now in prototype form. XYN’s spatial capture solution will convert high-quality, photorealistic 3D CG assets from real-world objects and spaces using images captured by mirrorless cameras and proprietary algorithms.

Additionally, a prototype for a mobile application that visualizes the shooting conditions of the mirrorless camera in realtime is also under development. This will streamline the 3D CG production workflow for films, games, virtual production, and the metaverse for objects such as props, items, and spatial backgrounds.

There’s also some hardware here. The XYN Headset is an immersive spatial content creation system equipped with high-quality 4K OLED microdisplays and video see-through function, optimized for intuitive creative work in spatial content creation. It will support various 3D production software, including pre-visualization and 3D character modeling, not only in the field of industrial design but also in entertainment, and a proof-of-concept experiment using the prototype is underway with Sony Pictures Animation.

You can experience the world of XYN at Sony’s booth at CES 2025, which will take place in Las Vegas, USA
from January 7-10 (local time in the US).