eye-toy new tricks for PS2-PS3

[rabidrabbit]

why couldnt you wait just a few more seconds for your post when i was editting my post

Sorry
Don't remember the Sega thing, was it for Dreamcast or Saaturn?
I can imagine maybe the power of the macine didn't make the experience that good.

 

[Guden Oden]

I don't think that thing did quite the same thing as eyetoy. It looks inferior in both performance and functionality. Nor is DC CPU comparable to EE either.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

they had a gameboy camera that didnt take off, not exactly the similar to the eyetoy however, it was more of a camera obviously as the name implies...

but sega had what they called dream eye that does the same as the eyetoy, however that didnt take off either (it was also done before sony)

I'd never heard of the Dreameye before, but a quick Google shows it, like the gameboy camera, was nothing like EyeToy in use. At $150 release price for a very poor image quality (though back then I guess webcams were a lot more expensive than the disposal prices we pay now) it was an idea ahead of the technology to support it. Neither gameboy camera nor Dreameye had games that interacted with the intput of the camera AFAIK. And one of the limiting factors for EyeToy on PS2 is processing requirements. If any of you saw the recent IBM slides on graphics and Cell, they showed a process for removing the background from an image to isolate moving objects. There were a lot of steps involved, image processing steps Cell should be very good at handling. I envisage a setup where the camera is positioned and a 'snapshot' taken of the room. Then players can be 'removed' from the background and compsited into games, with movements much more accurate than the simple EyeToy system that's prone to video noise errors. Such a system should be able to cope with lower light levels better too I imagine. That's really where EyeToy2 develops imaging in games into a broader field, even though cameras have been hooked up to computers for years.

 

[MasaC]

Another thing related to this I read about a while ago was the possibility to control a Linux desktop environment with this 3D-positioning thing. Imagine sitting on your sofa and moving windows around with your bare hands in the air in front of you. Did anyone else read about this?

EDIT: Here's a link:

http://indieridley.i.ph/blogs/indieridley/index.php?itemid=25

But the PS3's UI will evolve much faster. For example, if we had an interface where we could control applications using gestures and words using the EyeToy, it would be like Minority Report. Of course, that kind of an evolution will also reflect on games.

 

[Bad_Boy]

that would be sweet!

 

[doob]

For the price that current consoles are for sale...
But in this case PS3, the eye-toy should be a control bundle out of the box. Otherwise theres no point waisting money on hardware to use on 1 or 2 games that come out every year... prfff

 

[Titanio]

I'm imagining text input on PS3 like PSP, but one that allows you to point to the letters, like a virtual keyboard. Could be good for mouse-like functionality aswell. Optional only of course, since not every PS3 will have a camera, but it should be there for those that do IMO. Hopefully, would be sweet!

 

[-NakedZ-]

The other racing vid(s) looks great. But I guess devs needs to work on the car interior details to take full advantage. The PGR3 team are already working on such feature, but it would take a lot longer for games like Gran Turismo (but note that touring car are strip, internally, version of their production counterpart).

And I do agree that devs would mostly take full advantage of it if it's packed with the system. It could also be a major concern for online FPS.

- Z

 

[gokickrocks]

But wasn't it just for taking low res pictures? Not comparable to Eye Toy really.

the dream eye was a vid/web-cam as well, which i thought was what the eyetoy was...

the only thing i thought that was seperating the two was the software that lets you interact with it in realtime

 

[gokickrocks]

I'm imagining text input on PS3 like PSP, but one that allows you to point to the letters, like a virtual keyboard. Could be good for mouse-like functionality aswell. Optional only of course, since not every PS3 will have a camera, but it should be there for those that do IMO. Hopefully, would be sweet!

i dont see that happening unless a person is right in front of the tv,...doesnt the eyetoy need up to a certain distance for it to focus?

also, for a keyboard layout, say you wanted to press the letter "o", how would it distinguish that you did not press the letters "i" or "k" as you were waving your hand around and what if you wanted to press a letter twice?

id much rather have them bundle a wireless keyboard than utilize the eyetoy

 

[Shifty Geezer]

the dream eye was a vid/web-cam as well, which i thought was what the eyetoy was...
the only thing i thought that was seperating the two was the software that lets you interact with it in realtime

Yep, that's it exactly. Only EyeToy on PS2 was the first camera of sufficient quality to allow useable motion detection.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

i dont see that happening unless a person is right in front of the tv,...doesnt the eyetoy need up to a certain distance for it to focus?

No. Like a normal camera you can set focus near or far. You just need to be positioned closer when games expect you to be filling the frame. The original EyeToy Play games for example. If they get Depth reading working it would be possible to determine where the player is pointing, rather than where their finger is positioned.

also, for a keyboard layout, say you wanted to press the letter "o", how would it distinguish that you did not press the letters "i" or "k" as you were waving your hand around and what if you wanted to press a letter twice?

That's the challenge for devs, working out how to use it, much like working out hos to use DS's stylus in different ways. Again if they have Depth reading working it wouldn't be too hard to have the player have to press forward inot the air, virtually pressing the virtual keyboard.

I'd be disappointed to see EyeToy not included with the PS3. It's options are many and diverse, offering scope for 'casual' games. eg. a virtual pet game using 'augmented reality' where the virtual pet is composited with the player's living room. This would broaden PS3's appeal as an all-round entertainment system, for all gamers.

 

[London Geezer]

that would be sweet!

Tom Cruise's in a boy band?!?!11