Sony is showcasing its latest connected gadget, but it’s not just another piece of plastic. It’s a speaker, but it has no traditional drive units. It’s a lantern that plays music through glass. Sony calls it the Symphonic Light Speaker.
The LED light speaker combinations are part of the company’s Life Space UX exhibit at CES, which is intended to showcase how we can make more of the spaces we live in without altering their aesthetics them significantly. It’s the fine art of hiding gadgets in furniture.
The speakers sound clear and produce room filling sound thanks, Sony says, to the company’s “vertical drive system”, which pushes sound waves through the glass. The sound is present, but I’d certainly be curious to hear how the Symphonic Light Speaker sounds when pushed full of something besides light and fluffy singer songwriter songs. Like what if I put on Sly and make this this rip through dynamic brass and crazy bass lines? I’m guessing they won’t do as well.
Still, the technology is something I’d certainly like to see evolved. I like seeing walls of speakers but these days their design is trending more towards invisible. This certainly not the first time we’ve seen music played through glass, but we’re interested to see what an audio powerhouse like Sony can do in an area where only niche manufacturers have dabbled before.