Sony Shows Off Revolutionary PS4 Augmented Reality Technology Introducing Realistic Lighting and More

Giuseppe Nelva April 25, 2014 8:54 AM EST

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and Asia is scheduled to introduce a new PS4 Augmented Reality technology today at the Nico Nico Chokaigi 3 event, and they just released two videos titled “PS4 AR Fluid Simulation” and “PS4 Dynamic Lighting” to show it off.

The technology, fruit of the efforts of the Lab Mirai Research Division, is able to correctly simulate fluids and recognize real light sources. It can then apply natural lighting to models displayed by the Augmented Reality engine. In addition to this, actual shadows can be cast by the models themselves on the environment.

The revolutionary aspect of the technology is that the AR models won’t look anymore like they’re out of place in the environment, buy they will naturally blend in it.

On top of the demos that you can see in the videos below, three more are being showcased on the show floor at the Nico Nico Chokaigi 3. The first enables the PS4 with high speed recognition of trading cards to display characters belonging to the Hatsune Miku franchise corresponding to each card. It could be the base of future trading card-based games.

The second is the “Narita Airport AR Diorama.” It involves a reproduction of the massive Tokyo Narita international airport, and by looking at it through your PS Vita you can see planes taking off and landing based on the real schedule of the hub.

The third comes with the tentative name “VitaHoloPop” and turns the PS Vita into an holographic box projector, letting it create decorative holographic projections into a transparent box. The technology is being studied to go beyond decoration and further content is currently being developed.

And now, without further ado, I leave you with the videos. Especially the second is extremely impressive, so check them out.

“PS4 AR Fluid Simulation” Video

“PS4 Dynamic Lighting” Video