Sony Xperia

Eye, projector, agent

By Cutright Elizabeth on May 13, 2016 in Technology

Socrates famously declared, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Sony appears to have taken the old philosopher’s adage to heart. With the company’s trio of Xperia products – the Eye, the Projector and the Agent – consumers may soon be able to track, record, store all the minutia of their daily lives. All three products debuted as concept devices at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MCW) in Barcelona earlier this year. The MWC, which typically takes place in February, is a prime time for major manufacturers to reveal new products and projects.

Probably the simplest and least intrusive of Sony’s Xperia trio, the Eye takes the form of a wearable camera. The Eye resembles a small mp3 player, and wearers need only don the device before blissfully going about their day. Though it’s currently just a “conceptual vision” with no release date, Sony’s prototype updates the typical lifelogging camera with its voice and facial recognition capabilities and it’s “intelligent shutter technology” which allows the camera to pick and choose which moments to photograph. In a video for the products, a father passively watches his family open a gift box; his hands are unencumbered as the Eye quietly captures the scene for prosperity.

The Xperia Projector is less surveillance minded than the Eye, but its intuitive interface also depends on what it can glean from its environment. Loaded up with data on appointments, locations, contacts and other facts and figures, the Projector transforms all that information into an interactive UI projected onto any surface, including walls and tabletops. Altering the projections is as simple as moving your fingertip across the images. In the future, this modest digital hub will be able to provide a personalized and customized experience for the whole family.

Rounding out the trio, the Xperia Agent occupies the same space as Amazon’s Echo. Twelve inches tall and outfitted with a camera, the Agent can be your own personal assistant. Part secretary and part robot, the Agent can read gestures and recognize faces, deliver scheduling alerts (appointments, weather forecasts, etc.) and manage lighting, heating, and other utilities.

Tying all these products together is the Xperia Ear, which has already moved beyond the concept phase. Resembling a small Bluetooth earphone, the Ear can both send and receive notifications from devices and apps ranging from simple voicemail to Twitter updates. The Ear operates as a companion to the Xperia trio, funneling information from those gadgets and passing it on to the wearer. It’s a bit like having Cortana or Siri sitting on your shoulder.

The Xperia product line also includes a smartphone and set of tablets built on the Android Marshmallow OS. Additionally, Sony’s Xperia products and services extend into business operations, with a suite of apps and devices designed harmoniously interface and connect companies and their workforce.

In a video about the Xperia brand, Sony strikes a philosophical stance.

“If we can redefine how people and devices interact in a meaningful way, we can spend more time being inspired by the world around us.”