Cultivating Curiosity and Imagination in the Creators of Tomorrow

Originally opening in 2000, SED welcomed over 3.7 million visitors during its time as the Sony ExploraScience museum before being relocated and renovated to its current form. Inheriting the tagline "For the Next Generation," the space has evolved to include over 40 different hands-on exhibits designed to stimulate the curiosity and imagination of future creatives. "Incorporating Sony's cutting-edge technology into this new SED, we're hoping to give children a wide variety of experiences so that someday they may themselves become creators bringing Kando (emotion) to the world," said Rei Abo, Vice President of Sony China and the project leader behind SED's renovation.

Aiming for a wholly unique approach in fostering the creators of tomorrow, SED is split into four zones: the Learning zone, which presents educational exhibits on the nature of light, sound, and images; the Experience zone, which features interactive content created from Sony's IPs and newest technologies; the Creation zone, where visitors can try making their own content; and the Community zone, which focuses on sharing Kando.

A light grey palette unifies the zones' interior design, while also allowing exhibits to stand out from their environment. "We envisioned a lab where children could experiment and create freely, making their own colorful works of art in this space - almost like a blank canvas," explained Qi Zheng, Assistant Director of Design Center China, who led designing for this project.

Exhibits from the Learning Zone: Colorful Shadow (Left), Sound Tube (Right)

Exhibits from the Experience Zone: XR Studio (Left), Immersive Kaleidoscope (Right)

Becoming a Main Character through Sony's Brand-New Technology

The Experience zone has become one of the most popular areas at SED, containing numerous interactive exhibits displaying Sony Group's newest technologies.

Voted most popular exhibit during SED's preopening period, "Be A Digital You" is an exhibit developed by Sony China, utilizing 3D Volumetric Capture System technology and a room installed with an array of 36 cameras to generate a 3D avatar of visitors in under three minutes with only one to two seconds of footage. This 3D avatar is not only capable of animated motion, but in fact becomes a controllable character in the next part of the exhibit, where visitors play an interactive game using their own avatar. "Our main goal is to really wow children by letting them make an avatar of themselves and then control it. Maybe this can be what gets them interested in the world of digital creation," said Zheng.

Diving into an Interactive World of Light, Color, and Sound

Also attracting guests to the Experience zone is its first permanent fixture, the "INTO SIGHT" experimental media platform exhibit. Displayed previously at the 2022 London Design Festival and the 2024 Sapporo International Art Festival by Sony's Creative Center, this exhibit lets visitors step into a world blending the real and the virtual, using Sony's high-resolution Crystal LED displays and sensing technology to allow visitors' movements to affect exhibit visuals and audio in real time. Boundaries between the walls covered in transparent glass and the reflective floor and ceiling are blurred, creating an endless and surreal space that exhibit guests can immerse themselves into. "As this is the first long term exhibit for INTO SIGHT, we had to consider a variety of factors, including exhibit durability and safety. After many trials, we decided on the installation with beautiful reflective visuals. It's a great place for taking photos as well," Zheng told us.

Aiming to Further Increase IP Value: the aibo Collaboration Figure

Featured in the Creation area is the permanent exhibit on the aibo entertainment robot (not available in China). Utilizing a diverse array of technologies including AI, sensing, and cameras, the exhibit seeks to give guests a new robot-human experience through interactions with aibo―a partner that stays close to people and learns and grows together with them.

Entertainment robot aibo exhibited in the "Creation" area

From January 14 to March 1 of 2026, a special exhibition will feature an aibo art piece created in collaboration with the art figure brand INSTINCTOY. This collaborative artwork features special decorative treatments, such as an iridescent pearl shell and a reflective geometric body, and expresses "the convergence of technology, art, and emotion" through displays depicting the growing bond between INSTINCTOY's character Liquid and aibo. Both the figure itself and merchandise featuring the figure are available for purchase at the museum shop.

This exhibit will be viewable in the free-to-enter Community zone, where in addition to the museum shop and café, other limited-time exhibits of various content IPs from a wide range of partners both within and without the Sony group will be installed in the future. This collaboration is also one of the initiatives to expand the value of aibo beyond its role as an entertainment robot and into the realm of content IP.

The aibo art figure designed in collaboration with INSTINCTOY, with merchandise.

Combining the power of technology with entertainment, SED hopes to inspire and grow the creativity of China's younger generations. Museum curator Hongjun Fan proudly said to us, "In our October guest survey, 78% of visitors answered they were `extremely satisfied,' and 20% answered they were `satisfied' with their experience. On top of that, we also welcomed 39% more visitors than we did the same month last year, so we're being received very positively. As one of Sony's touchpoints for sharing its Vision to the people of China, we hope to continue providing more interesting and attractive content for our guests here at SED."