The big reveal: Sony presents its latest innovations at a very special show in Milan

Watch Sony’s sensorial experience for Milan Design Week, Hidden Senses, come to life through new forms of communication

After an eight-year hiatus, Japanese giant Sony returns to Milan Design Week (17-22 April) with a immersive show inspired by one of the most integral aspects of human physiology: the senses. The exhibition, described as ‘a sensorial experience’ designed to help visualise ‘an enriched lifestyle’, will explore the new forms of communication made possible by technological progress and the internet of things.

Since its launch in 1946, Sony has been at the forefront of innovation, launching iconic products such as the Walkman and the aibo entertainment robot with the help of its cutting-edge design team. Now its latest aim is to strip away the conventions and complexities of technology by making it a sensory and seamless experience.

Visitors to ‘Hidden Senses’ will be invited to discover new possible interactions between people, objects and spaces in a series of four different rooms filled with everything from pure sound experiences to new ways of presenting visual information. The fifth and final section will bring together the entire concept, showing the brand’s latest innovations through a lifestyle scenario.

The exhibition will challenge the audience by asking simple questions relating to the way they interact with their day-to-day environment, and the way that technology can be used to enhance their lives. Humans have so many second-nature responses, and Sony wants to reveal these instinctive reactions and question them. Experience for yourself this leap into the future of design at Milan’s Spazio Zegna.

‘Hidden Senses’ Sony Design Exhibition, 17–22 April, Spazio Zegna, via Savona 56/A, Milan

Circular opaque objects

Visitors at Milan’s Spazio Zegna will be invited to explore new possible interactions with objects

(Image credit: TBC)

Close up view of image

The way we connect with day-to-day products will be questioned within four rooms of the exhibition

(Image credit: TBC)

Hand touching a reflective object

With Hidden Senses, Sony will challenge our instincts and our second nature responses of how we react via our senses

(Image credit: TBC)

Shadow on wall

The show will offer alternative ways of presenting visual information with its new form of technological communication

(Image credit: TBC)

Hidden Senses Installation

Sony aims to use the Hidden Senses installation as a way to strip back the complexities of technology, by providing a smooth experience

(Image credit: TBC)

Close up of plant leaves and shadow on wall

The fifth section of the exhibition will bring together all of the concepts in a lifestyle scenario 

(Image credit: TBC)

Close up of marble design

The project is set to visualise an enriched lifestyle of the future 

(Image credit: TBC)

Female in low lit room reaching out to a touch object

Guests will be encouraged to touch objects they are already affiliated with for an extraordinary feel

(Image credit: TBC)

Hidden Senses circular objects

Discover how technology can flourish within our everyday experiences with Sony‘s Hidden Senses

(Image credit: TBC)

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.