A story suggesting that an Eye-Toy like innovation may be Sony's secret weapon for the PS3 has landed on our news desk and since the origin is a reliable source which we call a MegaGames friend, we have to mention it.
In a time when everyone is heaping praise, and rightly so, on Nintendo for innovating and daring to be alternative, many have forgotten that Sony has a proven record of fresh ideas including the introduction of Eye Toy which all of its rivals will be using in some shape or form in their new consoles. This news seems to tie-in well with the Sony's innovative side and with the idea that the Japanese giant had to have an ace somewhere up its sleeve.
The message we received started with a rather ambitious claim, ...what is the unrevealed connection between PS3 and Minority Report? We scratched our heads, called a meeting and remembering Kaz Hirai's enthusiasm at E3 the answer was obvious; stiff acting by both casts, right? It seems there is more to it than that as the correct answer comes from Sony's involvement with Prime Sense, a new Israeli company that claims to be operating in stealth mode. The new company claims to have patent-pending technology that can ...reconstruct 3D topography without assuming anything about the user or environmental conditions.
If you are still unclear as to how that ties in with Sony, maybe the full description of the technology by Prime Sense will light that bulb over your head.
Prime Sense's concept is a device, which allows a computer to perceive the world in 3D and derive an understanding of the world based on sight, just the way humans do.
The device includes a sensor, which sees a user (including their complete surroundings), and a digital component, or "brain" which learns and understands user movement within those surroundings.
Prime Sense's interactive device can see, track and react to user movements outside the computer, all without change of environment or wearable equipment for the end user. The closed device is plug and play and platform independent.
The way our, very reliable, source was reminded of Minority Report has to do with a scene in the movie in which a user manipulates a computer screen using special gloves; only with this tech you do not need the gloves. This reminds us of what Gesture Tek have hinted is possible with XBox 360 but taken one big step further.
Our source became even more specific claiming that the add-on will be available for the PS3 on the console's global release in mid November while Logitech will come up with a PC version a few months later. Additionally we found out that the Department of Defense, has expressed an interest in the technology although that is unlikely to affect the PS3 version of the hardware.
In conclusion, we have a very reliable source that claims Sony will have a PS3 peripheral which will recognize a user and his entire environment as well as his movements and will incorporate them into useful, in-console actions. The applications of this tech to gaming are obvious and if this story is proved right, Sony may yet manage to steal Nintendo's thunder in this generation of the console wars.
For a link to the developer's website follow the download tab above and please bear in mind that their How we do it section is meant to be a joke rather than the real secret behind the technology.