Sony acquires Cinemersive Labs to enhance PlayStation visuals with AI-powered 3D technology

Sony just bought an AI startup that turns photos into 3D volumes to make its first-party games more immersive

Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired Cinemersive Labs, a UK startup developing AI tools to convert 2D photos and videos into 3D volumes. The Cinemersive Labs team will join Sony's Visual Computing Group, a research and engineering team focused on graphical technology, including game rendering, video coding, and generative AI models. Sony announced the acquisition on its website, framing the deal as part of its efforts to "push the boundaries of visual computing and deliver richer, more immersive gameplay experiences." "Following the acquisition, the Cinemersive Labs team will join SIE's Visual Computing Group and contribute to our broader efforts in advancing state of the art visual computing within games," Sony said. "This includes applying machine learning to enhance gameplay visuals, improve rendering techniques, and unlock new levels of visual fidelity for players." Cinemersive's most recent product is Parallax, a virtual reality app that converts 2D images into 3D volumes and lets users look around them with natural head movements. The startup built custom AI tools to make this possible, and that expertise might be what Sony is after. Sony has already been investing heavily in machine learning to improve graphical performance on the PlayStation 5 and future hardware, including a PS6-generation handheld that is reportedly set to feature an AI upscaler more powerful than DLSS 4.5. The company has already introduced AI upscaling with PSSR on the PS5 Pro, allowing games to run at lower resolutions and then upscale to 4K. Its upgraded version brings noticeable improvements to visual quality in titles such as Resident Evil Requiem. Cinemersive's specialization in converting flat imagery into three-dimensional space fits perfectly with Sony's vision, and could help push PSSR further, given that the technology already relies on AI to generate additional pixels. Of course, this is just us connecting the dots based on what we know at the moment, as Sony has not shared any specific product plans tied to this acquisition. For now, it remains an early-stage move. For PlayStation owners, this could mean a new generation of games designed around more immersive visuals. While there's still a long way to go before anything comes out of this acquisition, AI is clearly becoming a bigger part of Sony's development toolkit, a trend that remains controversial across the industry.

Sony acquires UK startup Cinemersive Labs for 3D technology

Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired UK-based startup Cinemersive Labs, which specializes in converting 2D photos and videos into 3D volumes. The Cinemersive team will integrate into Sony's Visual Computing Group, focusing on game rendering, video coding, and generative AI development. The acquisition is seen as a strategic move to enhance Sony's capabilities in visual computing for games. Cinemersive's recent product, Parallax, utilizes custom AI tools to allow users to view parallax photos that respond to head movements, showcasing the potential of their technology in interactive applications. Sony indicated that the Cinemersive Labs team will help advance its initiatives in state-of-the-art visual computing. "This includes applying machine learning to enhance gameplay visuals, improve rendering techniques, and unlock new levels of visual fidelity for players," the company stated. Machine learning is a critical focus for Sony, particularly in improving graphical performance for the PlayStation 5 and its upcoming hardware. The PlayStation 5 Pro features a new GPU, faster storage, and PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), an AI-powered upscaling technology that enables the console to run games at lower resolutions and upscale them to 4K. An updated version of PSSR was launched in March, enhancing performance metrics for the PlayStation 5 Pro. Moreover, Sony is collaborating with AMD on Project Amethyst, aimed at further improving ray tracing and upscaling capabilities for future gaming consoles.

Sony buys machine-learning company to help "enhance gameplay visuals, improve rendering techniques, and unlock new levels of visual fidelity" in PlayStation games

The AI tech will be used to "deliver richer, more immersive gameplay experiences" Sony is investing in AI-powered machine learning technology to help advance visual fidelity in PlayStation games, the company has announced. In a news release, Sony says it's reached an agreement to acquire UK-based machine learning company Cinemersive Labs as part of its mission to continually explore "new ways to push the boundaries of visual computing and deliver richer, more immersive gameplay experiences." Sony says Cinemersive Labs employees will be a part of SIE's Visual Computing Group, which was formed in 2024 following Sony's acquisition of London-based AI company iSIZE, and will "contribute to our broader efforts in advancing state of the art visual computing within games." In case there was any doubt, this acquisition is yet another investment in AI-powered, machine learning upscaling similar to Nvidia's DLSS, whose latest iteration is facing widespread comparisons to "AI slop." Sony introduced its own AI upscaler with the PS5 Pro's PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) tech, but so far it's been much more conservative than what we've seen from DLSS 5. It's unclear if Cinemersive will specifically be working on PSSR, but that seems the most logical outcome. Sony only says the team will use "machine learning to enhance gameplay visuals, improve rendering techniques, and unlock new levels of visual fidelity for players." So, AI upscaling, which is pretty much PSSR's whole thing. "We look forward to welcoming the Cinemersive Labs team to SIE and continuing to make PlayStation the best place to play," reads Sony's announcement. There isn't a whole lot to glean from Cinemersive Labs' official website, which is about as barebones as it gets. There is a single page to navigate that simply says, "Cinemersive AI transforms a single photo shot into a volumetric 3D immersive experience." Below that is a gallery of 76 volumetric images you can play around with and view from different perspectives. There's also a trailer for Cinemersive Labs' Parallax VR app, which lets you view volumetric images taken from iconic landmarks from around the world. It's unclear how much of Cinemersive Labs' VR ventures will continue under Sony's umbrella, but one can assume the website will soon be due for a little spiffing up.