Sony unveiled Life Space UX, its wildly ambitious vision for future home displays, onstage at CES earlier today. In a tiny room in a tucked-away corner of their booth, we got a closer look at the interface — and we came away impressed.
Sony's demonstration was set in a mocked-up living room of the near future. There was nothing terribly futuristic about the setting, which was surely the point; Sony intends for each display to live seamlessly on the surfaces we normally interact with on a regular basis. Projectors concealed strategically in the room displayed a number of concepts, like a skylight showing a spring day. At the kitchen table, another projector showed a tablet interface ready for playing with, very reminiscent of the original Microsoft Surface. Meanwhile, the mirror on the far wall showed off a library of magazines.
However, the linchpin of the entire experience was the 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector, which is due out this summer. Disguised as a simple piece of furniture, it can throw a 147-inch image on the wall ready for viewing.
Perhaps the most impressive thing is that all these displays can be coordinated to create an immersive experience, whether you want to imagine you're on a Paris street or underwater for some reason. It's all up to how far Sony (and the consumer) wants to take things. We're not sure when this will all come to fruition, but it's pretty cool to see here now.
Comments
epic. And super expensive. Probably.
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 3:12pm
It starts at 30,000.
By djphatjive on 01.07.14 8:31pm
I never really buy projectors as the future because they have such terrible contrast compared to traditional monitors. It’s just the washed out past to me.
By awesomerobot on 01.07.14 3:12pm
Look at that terrible contrast
By ThirdFromTheSun on 01.07.14 3:14pm
What projector and screen are you using?!
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 3:16pm
Oh that’s not mine, though I wish it was.
It’s an Epson 8350 along with a DNP Supernova Blade.
By ThirdFromTheSun on 01.07.14 3:21pm
Its absolutely epic. I need to get XBMC running soon.
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 3:27pm
I don’t know which one he has there, but he probably got it at the best buy on fantasy island.
People don’t want to turn off all the lights to watch tv.
By lazycrazy on 01.07.14 3:23pm
not if you buy a black diamond projector screen.
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 3:26pm
rear projection though?
By johnSelder on 01.07.14 3:27pm
nope front projection. The Black diamond screen just rejects ambient light.
http://www.screeninnovations.com/projector-screens/fixed/black-diamond-zero-edg/#SliderNav0
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 3:32pm
But does a screen like that work with ultra short throw projectors?
By KiDKLMX on 01.07.14 6:04pm
I wouldn’t have thought so. These screens reject any light that isn’t coming from head on, which is why the perceived contrast is so good. I Have a feeling you wouldn’t see anything if you were to use this screen with the Ultra short throw projectors. But if Screen Innovations were to make one that rejected all light except the light coming from below it could theoretically work.
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 6:35pm
Well that’s a shame. 2000 lumens is not enough for daytime viewing, correct?
I’m seriously considering this thing as my new TV, as I only watch movies and series and not live TV.
By KiDKLMX on 01.07.14 6:45pm
2000 lumens would give an ok picture, and with the projector being so close to the wall the brightness wont diminish as much as it would projecting across a room. I think you should be able to see it fine during the day but there would still be an obvious improvement when its dark.
Im projecting a 200" image over 12 feet across a room with ALOT of ambient light and its still watchable during the day. I wouldn’t cross this off your list yet, it looks like a good option to me (depending on the price of course).
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 7:23pm
The first thing I did when I bought my house 4 years ago was turn my basement into a full blown theater with a 110 inch screen. I mounted my projector on the ceiling. I have the Epson Powerlite… Turning off the lights is no problem.
By D.C. Mike on 01.07.14 3:28pm
really? On a saturday night…I LEAVE ALL THE LIGHTS ON!
Projectors are tricky. If you have a room where you can completely control the amount of ambient light, they are unbeatable. What happens though is most people can’t and they buy projectors with a lot of lumens. Lumens make you picture brighter, making it possible to have a good viewing experience even with a lot of light BUT things can looked washed out if you crank up that brightness. But once you go 100+ inches in the living room, a 65 or even 85 inch tv…just doesn’t cut it.
By johnSelder on 01.07.14 3:29pm
Im projecting a 200" image onto a wall and the picture is good. I have alot of ambient light. It is washed out which is why I have an LED tv for daytime viewing. But when the lights go down, nothing compares.
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 3:34pm
Er, I don’t want the lights ON when I’m watching TV. I always watch in subdued lighting or the dark.
Which is why I also have a projector.
By theronster on 01.07.14 3:39pm
Yes! I can’t see any reason why one would not have a projector nowadays.
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 3:40pm
space? cost?
By nabberuk on 01.07.14 4:39pm
You can have short throw projectors in small rooms with a considerably larger display than a TV. Also projectors have come down so much in price you can buy many that are cheaper then a television set that is anywhere near the size of the image you can project.
By ollyboon on 01.07.14 4:52pm
I use my TV as my main computer monitor. That means I would almost never see the Sun again if I always had to have a dark room to see my screen.
By gavin.greenwalt on 01.10.14 6:32pm
Oh I don’t doubt that there are situations where projectors shine. Mainly super dark theaters (be they home or elsewhere) – I just never buy that they’ll ever have a consistent place in lifestyle activities like tech companies have been showing for the past few decades. Those projected images look washed out on the showroom floor, they’ll look like garbage mid-day in a home.
By awesomerobot on 01.07.14 3:28pm
I do admit that I have a MASSIVE window in the living room and a projector won’t work before sundown. If you have a dedicated “movie” room it’s AWESOME.
By D.C. Mike on 01.07.14 3:30pm