Sony pulls anime out of the screen: glasses-free 3D on your desk

Sony has shown off the ELF-MN1, a small 6-inch screen that renders a 3D image with no glasses or headset. You put it on your desk, plug it into a phone or PC with a single USB-C cable, and a character stands inside the screen like a real figurine.

The trick is eye tracking. A sensor above the panel follows your pupils in real time and sends each eye its own image. Turn your head and the angle shifts, just like with a physical object. This version adds an infrared sensor, so it keeps working in the dark. Pixel density is 403 ppi, the sharpest of any Sony spatial display.

Until now Sony sold these screens to professionals, 3D designers and exhibition booths. This one is a desk toy for fans. The main use case is digital figures of anime and game characters from the HoloModels service, where you can change their pose and facial expression. Developers get a Unity SDK to show their own models.

There are limits. Only one person sees the 3D effect, from 30 to 80 cm away and within 25 degrees off center. It does not turn regular games or your phone screen into 3D on its own, it needs dedicated content. It works with Windows PCs plus iPhone and Android phones.

The ELF-MN1 goes on sale in Japan on December 11 at an estimated price of about 54,000 yen, roughly $340. Sony stores in Ginza and Nagoya will have demo units before that.

Bottom line: the sci-fi hologram is still phone-sized and for one viewer, but it already costs about as much as a good pair of headphones.