During CES this week, Sony demonstrated a proof-of-concept experience based on the popular HBO post-apocalyptic drama “The Last of Us.” We were dropped into a six-person pod of newly enlisted defenders and assigned to a hardened defender who needed new recruits to combat a serious surge of zombie assaults that she was convinced could be overcome with our assistance. Armed with LED-enabled shotgun-like devices and tracked flashlights to assist our leader in discovering the concealed attackers, our combat leader led us with sharp and direct commands as she guided us through the terrors of the attack.

With the tracked flashlights and the shotguns, the tracking was accurate to the emerging zombies in real time. Shouted commands were obeyed and the onslaught was rebuffed up to the end.

The venue featured three ceiling-to-floor screens with scenic elements added on the ground plane to heighten the dimensional reality in the subdued lighting in an abandoned warehouse. Of course, adding a sharply defined character with an actor with the skills to exhibit effective command presence was one of the highlights as the new defense pod was quickly snapped into service of the “The Last of Us.”

The exhibit was presented at the Sony booth and was graced with a wraparound line happy to patiently wait for a glimpse of the future of location-based entertainment with well known IP.

Like the Afeela vehicle approach from Sony Honda Mobility, this is a graduated and incremental experiment in the technology necessary to have group experiences in holodeck-like realms vs. VR headsets.

Related:
Future Immersive Entertainment Concept, Sony Video, 1/8/25
Sony’s Immersive ‘The Last of Us’ Experience at CES Dropped Me into a Subway Filled with Zombies, Engadget, 1/8/25