CES 2022 shows off virtual reality gaming’s new horizon, robotic helpers and self-driving cars

Virtual reality gaming takes a huge leap forward, as Sony unveils a next-generation headset, amid the tech wonders at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Sony will usher in the next generation of virtual reality gaming, with a big change coming to PlayStation 5, it announced at the Consumer Electronics Show.

It will literally be a game-changer, with Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan saying PlayStation VR2 would be a big step up from its earlier virtual reality efforts.

The headset will track the user’s eye movements, deliver subtle vibrations, and use two advanced hand controllers.

“Nothing elicits emotion quite like the VR medium,” Mr Ryan said.

“With the next generation, it’s our vision to provide the ultimate entertainment experience to players today.”

The first game developed for the next-gen VR kit, Horizon: Call of the Mountain, is set to launch in the US on February 18.

Aside from the revelation for gamers, connected cars with touchscreen dashboards, robots that deliver packages, and a home on wheels you can use to party, sleep or exercise while your vehicle drives itself: the Show delivered a strange window into the future on Wednesday.

Some of the world’s biggest tech firms showed off their prototypes and future visions the day before the tech event officially launches in Las Vegas.

Sony was one of few tech giants to appear in Las Vegas itself, using its CES announcement to officially enter the car market and launch a new company called Sony Mobility.

The Japanese firm showed off a prototype of its new Vision S SUV that featured a screen across the car’s entire dashboard for entertainment and controls, and promised to use 40 sensors inside and outside the vehicle for safety and connect to the internet using 5G.

Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida said the firm had decided to launch an electric vehicle arm after a positive reception to an earlier prototype, and would seek to shake up the market by making cars more entertaining.

“The excitement we received after the announcement of Vision S encouraged us to further consider how we can bring creativity and technology to change the experience of moving from one place to another,” he said.

Sony’s big announcements came after LG kicked off the pre-show day at CES 2022, with LG chief executive William Cho saying the pandemic had posed interesting questions about whether technology needed to change to better suit us in future.

“We are all facing an important question: are to we return to the normal, old way of doing things or move forward to something better,” he asked.

LG’s vision of the future includes a “mobile concept” vehicle called the LG Vision Omnipod that is shaped like a mini-van but features a full-length screen with virtual assistant Reah acting as a concierge or even a workout instructor.

Furniture within the Omnipod could be moved to create a mobile office, a sleep capsule or a moving movie theatre and, according to LG, help allow “all the things you can do while you’re not driving”.

Of course, the Omnipod will require many more achievements in autonomous car technology before it can be released on to roads.

Advances in self-driving cars were shown off during Intel’s press conference, however, where the company’s 2017 acquisition Mobileye showed how its mapping technology could drive itself through busy Tokyo streets and navigate down a two-way road with no lane markings in Europe.

Even it is a way off delivering completely autonomous vehicles that can operate without supervision, though.

Tech giant Samsung also showed off an upcoming projector called The Freestyle that was shaped like a large cup, weighed less than 1kg, and could create “cinema-quality” pictures up to 100 inches in size on a wall or ceiling.

The Freestyle will be launched for pre-orders in Australia on January 17.

Samsung chief executive JH Han also talked a lot at length about eco-friendly changes to Samsung products and packaging. The company will launch a new TV remote control powered by “electricity from radio frequencies” emitted by other devices this year, and pledged to ensure TVs and phone chargers “operate on zero standby power” by 2025.

LG also showed off three robots at its CES event, including CLOi robots to deliver food and guide people to their seats, and a Door-to-Door Robot designed to deliver packages and traverse outdoor environments, including stairs.

And, in a nod to a less distant future, the company also showed a portable TV concept called the LG One:Quick Flex designed to deliver video calls for remote work and virtual chats with family members and friends.

The 43-inch display features a built-in camera and microphone for video calls, can be wheeled around the home, and the screen can be rotated vertically and used with a stylus for drawing on the screen during presentations.

Originally published as CES 2022 shows off virtual reality gaming’s new horizon, robotic helpers and self-driving cars