Curious what crazy ideas Sony might be considering for the future of gaming? Well, you're in luck: it just unveiled a new conceptual technology designed to increase immersion by placing players inside a TV box and spraying odors into the room. So if you've ever wanted to smell like Kratos after a hard day of killing, your dreams are now one step closer to reality.
Sony's future immersive entertainment concept (as it's officially known) isn't likely to arrive in living rooms anytime soon. As the name suggests, this is largely a proof of concept focused on CES 2025, showing only a possible future avenue for more immersive games, and not anything even remotely close to production. However, it is quite interesting, in a tremendously effective way: it takes some already existing ideas (all-encompassing screens, atmospheric smells, etc.) and then reinvents them with cutting-edge technology.
Essentially, Sony's immersive entertainment concept of the future is a giant cube of LED panels that completely surrounds players inside. While exploring the game world (that of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us in the case of Sony's new showcase trailer), players are bombarded with “audio, haptics, smells and atmospheres” designed to further immerse them in the experience.
In addition, it is possible to use physical tools that interact with the world on the screen, and we are shown a flashlight that only illuminates what it points at, as well as various weapons. The downside to all this, of course, is that it's only really convincing with static scenes (plus, you'd need a living room the size of an arena and a big wad of cash to accommodate it), but the upside is that it might finally allow you smell the fruity, fungal scent of a decomposing Clicker. Hmm.
Some might argue that a more immediately viable solution to greater gaming immersion would be virtual reality, but Sony doesn't seem to be in any particular rush to do anything significant with PSVR2, making its closest equivalent to its immersive concept The Last of Us right now is probably standing in the kitchen with the lights off and asking someone to throw mushrooms at you.
If all of the above sounds like an overly energetic way to get your The Last of Us fix, you might as well just plop down in front of the TV ready for the second season of HBO's acclaimed live-action adaptation, which was recently confirmed to be streaming. will air this April. PC owners can also get stuck into The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered at the same time (April 3, more specifically), but there may be a bit of a wait to see new stuff from The Last of Us given that Naughty Dog is currently working on Hack-and-slasher sci-fi Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.