News DeskDubai, UAE – Sony has unveiled its groundbreaking camera tracking system, OCELLUS (ASR-CT1), a pioneering solution designed to transform augmented reality (AR) and virtual production workflows in cinema and broadcast. The system, announced today in Dubai, eliminates the need for physical markers, leveraging advanced sensor technology and AI-driven spatial mapping to deliver real-time camera tracking data for seamless integration with CGI environments.
Cutting-Edge Technology for Modern Productions
The OCELLUS system combines a compact sensor unit, processing box, and lens encoders to capture precise camera position, orientation, and lens metadata—even in challenging environments. Utilizing five image sensors and Sony’s proprietary Visual SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) technology, OCELLUS constructs dynamic 3D maps of shooting locations, enabling stable tracking indoors and outdoors without markers. Four sensors operate simultaneously, ensuring resilience to occlusions, while IR LEDs and a Visible Light Cut Unit enhance performance in low-light or variable lighting conditions.
Camera-Agnostic Flexibility
Compatible with both Sony Cinema Line cameras and third-party devices, OCELLUS simplifies metadata acquisition. For Sony cameras, focus, zoom, and iris data are pulled directly via SDI output. For unsupported lenses, three clip-on encoders transmit rotation angles to the processing box via LEMO cables. This data is then relayed to rendering engines like Unreal Engine in real time using free-d protocol, crucial for synchronizing live VFX and AR elements.
Seamless Workflow Integration
The processing box acts as the system’s hub, offering genlock, timecode, and SDI connectivity while recording tracking data, metadata, and timecode to SD cards as FBX files. This ensures post-production teams can precisely match footage with CGI during editing. Weighing just 250 grams, the sensor unit attaches via NATO rail, ideal for handheld or rig-mounted setups.
Expanding Virtual Production Tools
OCELLUS joins Sony’s growing ecosystem of virtual production solutions, including the Crystal LED VERONA displays and software-based Virtual Production Toolset. “This system empowers creators to focus on artistry, not technical limitations,” said a Sony spokesperson.
Availability
Debuting at the NAB Show 2025 in Las Vegas (April 6–9), OCELLUS will launch in select Middle Eastern markets by Q4 2025. Pricing remains undisclosed, but industry experts anticipate high demand from studios adopting in-camera VFX techniques popularized by blockbusters like The Mandalorian.
Sony’s OCELLUS marks a leap forward for virtual production, bridging the gap between physical sets and digital worlds—no markers required.
