Sony buys machine learning firm behind volumetric 3D images to level-up PlayStation tech

Sony's games division has made an interesting purchase, acquiring a UK-based group that creates simulated 3D imagery based on static photographs.

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Sony Interactive Entertainment has purchased machine learning company Cinemersive Labs, the company today announced. Cinemersive doesn't have a very public presence, but its website and YouTube channel gets the point across. The firm uses AI and machine learning to create immersive 3D views from images, which can then be viewed in VR. This could mean that PSVR2 isn't dead, and that Sony could be using Cinemersive Labs to help power the next-generation of Future Immersive Entertainment, possibly for the PlayStation 6.

"Today, we are pleased to announce that SIE has entered into an agreement to acquire Cinemersive Labs, a UK-based machine learning and computer vision company," Sony said, then adding that the group will help fortify new rendering techniques, possibly Sony's in-house PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) technology.

"Following the acquisition, the Cinemersive Labs team will join SIE's Visual Computing Group (VCG) and contribute to our broader efforts in advancing state of the art visual computing within games. This includes applying machine learning to enhance gameplay visuals, improve rendering techniques, and unlock new levels of visual fidelity for players."

Sony is going all-in on machine learning with its next-gen PlayStation 6, co-architecting and engineering the underlying technology alongside AMD via an ambitious multi-year initiative called Project Amethyst. Sony is making PSSR and designing new custom chip designs while AMD is also developing its next-gen FSR solutions.

ML will also be a big part of the PS6 on a hardware level, with the console leveraging multiple new advancements like Radiance Cores, Neural Arrays, and Universal Compression--all of which is enabled by new chips with AI baked right into the silicon itself.