PlayStation Eye

The PlayStation Eye (trademarked PLAYSTATION Eye) is a digital camera device for the PlayStation 3 video game console, and the successor to the EyeToy for the PlayStation 2.

The peripheral was launched in a bundle with "The Eye of Judgment" in the United States on October 23, 2007,cite web |url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/09/20/5-things-you-dont-know-the-eye-of-judgment/ |title=5 Things You *Don’t* Know: THE EYE OF JUDGMENT |accessdate=2007-08-25 |last=Valledor |first=Mark |date=September 20, 2007 |format= |work=PlayStation.Blog |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] in Japan and Australia on October 25, 2007cite web |url=http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/eoj/ |title=The Eye of Judgment（アイ・オブ・ジャッジメント） Biolith Rebellion ～機神の叛乱～ |accessdate=2007-08-25 |format=Adobe Flash |work=jp.playstation.com |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] cite web |url=http://au.playstation.com/games_media/games/ps3/e/eyejudgment.jhtml |title=Eye of Judgment |accessdate=2007-10-12 |work=au.playstation.com |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] and in Europe on October 26, 2007cite web |url=http://www.pro-g.co.uk/news/16-10-2007-6690.html |title=PlayStation Eye to launch on November 7 |accessdate=2007-10-26 |work= |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] cite web |url=http://news.spong.com/article/14038 |title=PlayStation Eye Street Date |accessdate=2007-10-18 |date=October 16, 2007 |work=SPOnG |publisher=SPOnG |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

The PlayStation Eye was also released as a stand-alone product in United States,cite web |url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/10/10/playstation-eye-a-little-more-info/ |title=PlayStation Eye, A Little More Info… |accessdate=2007-10-11 |last=Stocker |first=Sarah |date=October 10, 2007 |format= |work=PlayStation.Blog |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] Europe, and Australia.cite web |url=http://au.playstation.com/ps3/hw/playstation3eye.jhtml |title=PLAYSTATION Eye |accessdate=2007-10-12 |work=au.playstation.com |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] EyeToy designer Dr. Richard Marks stated that the EyeToy was used as a model for the rough cost design.cite web |url=http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=585885 |title=Geek Out: The Playstation Eye is Nearly Upon Us. Dr. Richard Marks Takes Us Behind the Scenes of its Birth. |accessdate=2007-05-01 |last=Croal |first=N'Gai |authorlink=N'Gai Croal |coauthors= |date=April 30, 2007 |format= |work= [http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup N'Gai Croal's Level Up] |publisher=Newsweek |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl=http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/2007/04/30/geek-out-the-playstation-eye-is-nearly-upon-us-dr-richard-marks-takes-us-behind-the-scenes-of-its-birth.aspx |archivedate=2007-05-01 |quote= ]

Features

Camera

The PlayStation Eye is capable of capturing standard video with frame rates of 60 hertz at a 640x480 pixel resolution, and 120 hertz at 320x240 pixels, which is "four times the resolution" and "two times the frame-rate" of the EyeToy, according to Sony.cite web |url=http://threespeech.com/blog/?p=394 |title=PlayStation Eye - Q+A |accessdate=2007-04-30 |date=April 26, 2007 |work=Three Speech |publisher=ThreeSpeech.com |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

The PlayStation Eye also has "two times the sensitivity" of the EyeToy, with Sony collaborating with sensor chip partner OmniVision Technologies on a sensor chip design using larger sensor pixels, allowing for more effective low-light operation. Sony states that the PlayStation Eye can produce "reasonable quality video" under the illumination provided by a television set.

The camera features a two-setting adjustable fixed focus zoom lens. Selected manually by rotating the lens barrel, the PlayStation Eye can be set to a 56-degree field of view similar to that of the EyeToy, for close-up framing in chat applications, or a 75-degree field of view for long shot framing in interactive physical gaming applications.

The PlayStation Eye is capable of outputting video to the console uncompressed, with "no compression artifacts"; or with optional JPEG compression.

Microphone

The PlayStation Eye features a built-in four-capsule microphone array, with which the PlayStation 3 can employ technologies for multi-directional voice location tracking, echo cancellation, and background noise suppression. This allows the peripheral to be used for speech recognition and audio chat in noisy environments without the use of a headset. The PlayStation Eye microphone array operates with each channel processing 16-bit samples at a sampling rate of 48 kilohertz, and a signal-to-noise ratio of 90 decibels.

oftware

In addition to gaming-oriented uses, Sony has stated that the PlayStation Eye will also feature applications for tasks such as interactive communication and content creation (e.g. movie-making and video blogging). An AV Chat feature has been revealed which allows for audio-visual chat with anyone on a user's PlayStation Network friends list (up to six at oncecite web |url=http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3/Accessories/SCPH-98047 |title=PLAYSTATIONEye |accessdate=2007-10-26 |work=PlayStation.com |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment America |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] ). Additional free content and activities are planned for release via the PlayStation Network.

There have been several request to SONY about the release of drivers for the PS Eye as a Webcam in hardware different than PS3. Unfortunatelly SONY has not release such a driver. By trial and error some very smart folks have been able to get drivers for different OS.

A working driver for Windos XP and Vista can be downloded from http://alexpopovich.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/sony-ps3eye-camera-directshow-capture-source-filter/

A working driver for MacOS can be downloaded from http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/

There is also a ongoing effort to create a driver for Linux OS.

EyeCreate

The PlayStation Eye features free "EyeCreate" video editing software, which enables users to capture pictures, video, and audio clips directly to the memory unit of the PS3 console. "EyeCreate" features a variety of different capturing modes, including stop motioncite web |url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/10/11/eyecreate-in-action/ |title=EyeCreate in Action |accessdate=2007-10-13 |last=Lutton |first=Greg |date=October 11, 2007 |format=Flash Video |work=PlayStation.Blog |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment America |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] and time-lapse. Through the software, users can edit, save, and share their own custom images, movies, and audio content.

Video and audio files produced on the PlayStation 3 with the PlayStation Eye are written in a proprietary format which is currently user-accessible only through "EyeCreate". When questioned about support for other formats, Marks stated in April 2007 that "future formats are still being discussed." In the release version of "EyeCreate", videos created using the program can be exported as MPEG-4 files for use outside PlayStation 3 consoles.

Compatible games

The following are some PlayStation 3 games with camera functionality, some of which may not be specifically developed for the PlayStation Eye. The Playstation Eye does not support EyeToy compatible Playstation 2 games.

2009
*"Eyedentify"
*"EyePet"
*"PES 2009"

2008
*" (compatible with EyeToy)
*"Burnout Paradise"cite web |url=http://www.info.ea.com/news/pr/pr1007.pdf#page=2 |title=EA Revs Up Burnout Paradise With Innovation and Style |accessdate=2007-09-23 |date=September 21, 2007 |format=PDF |publisher=Electronic Arts |pages=2 |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] (compatible with EyeToy)
*"Rainbow Six Vegas 2" [ [http://rainbowsixgame.us.ubi.com/features.php Features | Rainbow Six Vegas 2 | Ubisoft ] ] (Used to upload personal image for the character)
*"High Stakes Poker" [ [http://ps3.com PlayStation® Global ] ] (used to see others)
*"LittleBigPlanet" (used to create levels)

2007
*"Aqua Vita"cite web |url=http://uk.playstation.com/ps3/news/articles/detail/store2/item76393/ |title=The future of PLAYSTATION Network revealed |accessdate=2007-09-23 |date=August 24, 2007 |work=uk.playstation.com |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment Europe |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] (entitled "Aquatopia" in the United States) - October 25, 2007 (Europe), November 20, 2007 (North America) [cite web |url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/11/20/playstation-store-update-11/| title="PlayStation Store Update - Nov. 20, 2007| date=2007-11-20| publisher=Sony| accessdate=2007-12-07]
*"Ember"
*"Mesmerize" - January 17, 2008 (North America) [cite web |accessdate=2008-01-25 |url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/01/17/playstation-store-update-18/ |title=Playstation Store Update (Playstation Blog)]
*"Operation Creature Feature" - October 25, 2007
*"The Eye of Judgment"
*"The Trials of Topoq" - October 25, 2007
*"Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08"cite web |url=http://www.info.ea.com/products/title.php?id=821 |title=Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08 |accessdate=2007-09-23 |date= |work=info.ea.com |publisher=Electronic Arts |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]
*"Tori-Emaki" [cite web |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vbc0EhEvhM |title=Tori-Emaki an interactive screensaver video] (incompatible with EyeToy)
*"SingStar"cite web |url=http://blogs.ign.com/Sony_SingStar/2007/07/16/60444/ |title= Your SingStar Questions Answered! |accessdate=2007-09-23 |last=Mason |first=Kevin |date=July 16, 2007 |work=SingStar developer blog |publisher=IGN |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]
*"Sky Blue"
*"Snakeball"
*"PES 2008" [ [http://www.psu.com/screenshot.php?id=14208 Facial import] ]

References

External links

* [http://blog.us.playstation.com/?author=29 PlayStation.Blog entries] by PlayStation Eye designer Richard Marks
* [http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23912.html?type=flv PlayStation Eye trailer] featuring footage for Operation Creature Feature, The Trials of Topoq, and Aqua Vita
* [http://www.gametrailers.com/player/20223.html?type=flv PlayStation Network showcase] featuring brief footage of Aqua Vita and Sky Blue