Sony’s Enterprise MR Headset Launching Next Month at $4,750

The buzz around Sony’s SRH-S1 standalone mixed reality (MR) headset has been somewhat quiet since its debut at CES 2024. However, we now have exciting news about its official release date and pricing details.

Sony, partnering with Siemens, will be launching the SRH-S1 in February 2025. This sophisticated device, aimed primarily at business and industrial environments, will retail for $4,750. Mark January 23, 2025, on your calendars, as that’s when you can begin placing orders directly through Siemens.

Originally marketed to appeal to creative professionals, both Sony and Siemens have shifted their focus, targeting industries that will benefit greatly from the headset’s capabilities. They’re positioning the SRH-S1 as a tool to “enable the industrial metaverse,” significantly enhancing product design and manufacturing with Siemens’ advanced mixed reality solutions.

Speaking of technology, the SRH-S1 boasts some impressive specs. Each eye is treated to a sharp 13.6MP display, courtesy of Sony’s proprietary ECX344A OLED microdisplay, which pairs brilliantly with the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset. This headset also features a specialized rendering technology for real-time 3D object visualization.

From a practical standpoint, this mixed reality device includes essential features like passthrough video and a flip-up visor. Its ergonomic controllers make interaction intuitive, with a design that integrates a stylus-like pointer and a unique ring for immersive 3D engagement.

In tandem with Sony’s advancements, Siemens has been fine-tuning its enterprise-focused Immersive Engineering tools. These tools are crafted to elevate the SRH-S1 experience, allowing users to create 3D CAD assets, explore models, and even conduct remote design reviews with colleagues via Siemens’ cloud-based NX X platform.

Bob Haubrock, Senior VP of Product Engineering Software at Siemens Digital Industries Software, highlighted the collaboration’s progress: “Since last year’s CES debut, we’ve developed transformative tools for mixed reality in the engineering sector. This not only supports global collaboration using high-quality 3D models but also enables secure, co-creation on critical 3D CAD data.”

Meanwhile, at this year’s CES, Sony revealed plans for a new headset geared toward prosumers called XYN. While details such as pricing and release dates are still under wraps, the XYN headset is considered to be an evolution of the SRH-S1, distinguished by its sleek black design versus the SRH-S1’s grey.

With these developments, it’s clear that Sony and Siemens are setting a new standard in the MR space, particularly within industrial applications. Keep an eye out for these innovations that promise to transform how industries approach design and collaboration.