Aug 28, 2025
Showcasing Sony’s Creative Entertainment Vision at SIGGRAPH 2025
Creative entertainment leaders from across Sony gathered at SIGGRAPH 2025 in Vancouver to showcase new advancements in graphics and interactive technology that support Sony’s Creative Entertainment Vision. Read on for a recap of our activities from the conference, with contributions from members of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), Pixomondo (PXO), Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI), Sony Electronics (SEC), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS), and Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL).
State of the Art Vehicle Sequences with PXO AKIRA
One of the key initiatives toward realizing the Creative Entertainment Vision is innovation in video production, through a wide range of Sony's solutions and technologies, such as cameras and LED displays. An example of this effort is PXO AKIRA, PXO’s state of the art vehicle processing ecosystem.
Pixomondo (PXO), a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, shared a sneak peek of an innovative short film produced with PXO AKIRA. First introduced by Sony at CES 2025, PXO AKIRA transforms the traditional method of shooting vehicles by enhancing safety, reducing costs, and maximizing creative freedom.
Senior Producer and Director Marco Ragozzino and Motion Systems Technician Chris Banting from PXO were accompanied by Samuel Wilson Fares, Virtual Production Marketing Manager from Sony Electronics in a discussion that provided attendees with an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the production of the new short film produced by Sony in collaboration with PXO. The conversation highlighted the integration of PXO’s unique vehicle processing platform known as PXO AKIRA, using Sony’s VERONA Crystal LED volume, Sony VENICE 2 and BURANO cameras, as well as Sony’s latest camera tracking system prototype known as OCELLUS, demonstrating how these technologies collaboratively supported the creative production process. Collectively, these innovations offer a compelling perspective on the future of cinematic storytelling.
Building the World of HBO’s THE PENGUIN with Pixomondo
PXO VFX Supervisor Nathaniel Larouche joined a Production Session on the HBO Original Limited Series THE PENGUIN, which contained 3107 VFX shots across 8 episodes. A sequel to the feature film THE BATMAN, the show takes place in the highly stylized fictional city of Gotham following Oswald “Oz” Cobb. Together with collaborators from HBO, Stormborn Studios, DNEG, and Frost FX, Larouche and team helped build an ornate, visceral world that transported viewers into Oz’s story.
Sony Pictures Imageworks Previews IN YOUR DREAMS
At SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival, Sony Pictures Imageworks shared a preview of the upcoming Netflix feature IN YOUR DREAMS, a comedy adventure about Stevie and her brother Elliot who journey the landscape of their own dreams. Imageworks leaders Nicola Lavender (VFX Supervisor and Director, CG Supervision) and Sacha Kapijimpanga (Head of Character Animation) were joined by the film’s director Alex Woo (Kuku Studios) to break down their collaboration.
In addition to the sneak peek of this new feature film, Imageworks team members shared their latest contributions to the Open Review Initiative, an Academy Software Foundation, and new innovations advancing creative pipelines. This included a paper presentation from Sergey Shlyaev entitled,“Machine Learning Meets Lighting: Using Depth Estimation To Build Light Rigs” about how Imageworks uses complex light rigs in their lighting pipeline and improves the production process for artists. Additionally, Clifford Stein and Chris Hellmuth presented an Industry Session on how Imageworks has transformed the Arnold renderer with GPU acceleration.
Showcasing the XYN Ecosystem
At the Sony exhibition booth, the XYN team showcased two core components of the XYN ecosystem: the Spatial Reality Display (SRD) and the XYN Spatial capture solution (Prototype).
XYN™ (/zin/) is an integrated software and hardware solution that supports the creation of spatial content. Leveraging Sony’s unique technologies, XYN enables accurate capture of the real world and flexible workflows through seamless integration with a variety of third-party tools.
XYN’s Spatial Reality Display (SRD) delivers a glasses-free 3D viewing experience. The SRD visualizes various types of 3D content, including those produced with the XYN ecosystem, and integrates them with a wide range of software to let professionals review and present assets in real time. Booth visitors experienced stunningly realistic 3D visuals and saw how SRD integrates with various software tools to support professional workflows.
XYN Spatial capture solution enables the creation of photorealistic 3D Computer Graphics (3DCG) assets from real-world objects and environments using mirrorless cameras and proprietary reconstruction algorithms. This streamlines the 3DCG pipeline for industries such as virtual production (e.g., background creation), gaming, digital twins, metaverse world-building, and digital archiving. At SIGGRAPH, we showcased 3DCG assets created with our solution, including film props and photorealistic environments for virtual production, as well as data from a Pixomondo film project that demonstrated its real-world use in filmmaking.
Spatial Capture Solutions
Sony Electronics demonstrated several advancements in spatial capture and scanning. Team members demonstrated a mobile rig developed by ArcEye, paired with an improved version of the WOLFONE Sync Module.
The ArcEye Modular Mobile Scan System demonstrates a multipurpose spatial capture platform featuring an expandable mobile stand system and Sony’s Alpha 9 III and ILX-LR1, an interchangeable lens camera designed for industrial use. The WOLF ONE Sync Module seamlessly enables synchronized Sony camera triggering and centralized power distribution in multi-camera setups.
Team members also showcased the benefits of the Alpha 9 III, which offers high-quality, high-speed 3D image capture when using the internal Full-Frame Global Shutter with cross-polarized photography techniques.
Emerging Technology Showcase from Sony CSL
Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL) shared two demonstrations at the SIGGRAPH Emerging Technology showcase.
YUBI, a collaboration between the University of Tokyo, Nara Institute of Science and Technology and Sony CSL, is a novel interface that translates nuanced finger movements into continuous, full-body avatar motion. With this prototype, researchers Yutaro Hirao and Takeru Hashimoto demonstrate how finger force can be used to enable embodied avatar interactions with kinetic chain in virtual environments.
Researchers Ryota Sakuma (Sony CSL / The University of Tokyo), Yusuke Sakai (Sony CSL), Yoshihiro Kawahara, and Takefumi Hiraki also demonstrated a hands-on demo called “Multi-Layered Inflatables,” a novel class of asymmetric-shaped inflatable structures with easy fabrication. These structures consist of multi-pair interconnected planar sheets, leveraging multi-layered inflation to create complex curved surfaces while maintaining structural integrity.
