This hands-on experience taught me more than any PPT presentation could! We were welcomed by a staff member from the Northeast US working here in Tokyo and were given RFID tags to pass through the security gate.
When we arrived upstairs (after being in an air-conditioned, sleek-silver-and-glass), we waited just a couple of minutes before being whisked into a beautiful space full of SONY gadgetry. We were first impressed with the gigantic projection screens which worked in unison to create dazzling images for us. These were their new SXRD projectors, which were reflecting off mirrors (to conserve room) to create 4 screens of over 100" apiece. Woweee!
From this introduction, we were led to the entertainment area, where we tried their listening stations, which had ginormous (electronic) databases of SONY music for us to enjoy. Tunes as varied as Bob Dylan and Dido were son heard in the room.
This area then led to the film area where we saw the numerous media covers for Da Vinci Code for DVD, BlueRay, Sony UMD, etc. They were even presented in international versions! We saw props from the movie mounted on three rolling walls
From this area, we proceeded to a room of Spiderman 3 memorabilia, including its own props like Venom's "flyboard" and mask and a Spiderman mounted to the wall, peering down at the floor.
This then led us to enjoy a completely enclosed Playstation 3 area where one of our classmates enjoyed playing a racing game with surround sound and a humongous projected screen. Meanwhile, we enjoyed laughing at (or at least "near") him because the realistic physics of the game made it very difficult to control the car and he kept skidding off the road. In the replay, the camera angles caught his car whizzing past, out of control, and then slowly re-enter the track to begin again. We were loving this experience and did not want to leave the room.
We went from the entertainment area to the professional products area, where we got to play with the cameras' zoom features. In fact, the zoom is so high on one particular camera that you could point it at an atlas 15' away and see the pixelation of the ink on the page. The setup in this area was such that it was a sports broadcaster's desk and a classmate and I took turns to "broadcast." He talked about the atlas and my classmates egged me on to do a sportscast, so I obliged. Here was my unscripted script:
"The Bulls are playing the Ravens tonight and the game is going well. Currently, there are 6 runs and 5 field goals. Meanwhile, the time in Shanghai is 6pm. We will keep you updated as details emerge."
As you know well, I am not terribly camera shy and you might know my sense of humor can strike at any time. Clearly, there are inconsistencies in that broadcast. Enjoy them ;)
Once we finished with this "broadcast" we were introduced to a camera that can take slow-motion shots and is used in sporting events, especially in replays. A classmate (wearing a casual suit) was asked to kick some soccer balls in a specific netted-off area of the room. As he kicked them, the camera caught him in the act and we enjoyed the slow-motion replay...a business man who has never played soccer kicking a soccer ball. Good thing we all have a sense of humor!
From this area, we were again impressed with a presentation of a "Serial Number 1" camera developed specifically for George Lucas...for the filming of Star Wars Episode 1. It was awesome! The main reason for the development was cost savings without sacrificing quality.
From this, we were led to a theater where we experienced more images generated by the SXRD projectors. It was stadium-style seating and was QUITE comfortable! While the volume was loud in the room, I soon gave in to the experience when a clip for Star Wars 3 was shown "to prove the quality of the Sony cinematic camera". It blew me away. Not I want to watch Star Wars all over again! And it would be bonus if I could watch it at this particular "theater" at SONY.
Even after this, the tour was not over. We walked over to the recording devices section and played with VERY expensive SLR cameras and camcorders. I was mesmerized by a mini-camcorder they've developed to be smaller than a typical digital camera and with a swiveling screen. Convenient! Handy!
We were hen introduced to a dancing gadget named Rolly. Already available on the US market, this 1gb MP3 player can be programmed to dance as it plays your music out of its integrated speakers. Pretty neat! Here's a demo:
We got to listen to a Ricky Martin song...nice!
From this area, we were shown one last gadget...the OLED tv. This is the thinnest TV I have ever seen. When I say thinnest, I mean 1/8" thick for an 8" screen! On the market, it sells for $1,500 as it is new technology, though I expect this price to fall as time goes on and the technology develops or is surpassed. I was in awe of how crisp the images were. I have never seen anything so sharp before!
After this last demo, we were led back downstairs in our glass/steel elevator and were sad to leave the premises after being able to play for so long with such cool toys!
I was able to take photos of the lobby of SONY, but there were no photos to be taken inside the "Square." Enjoy these:
1 comments:
who the heck wants a dancing mp3? lol the things they invent these days and people buy them
Post a Comment