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KinectNUI enables Minority Report style interaction in Windows sans gloves (video)

Joe Pollicino — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:57:00 EST

When Microsoft released its Kinect SDK we marveled at the impact it could have on desktop interaction; sure enough, Kevin Connolly's Kinect Natural User Interface has made our geeky pipe-dreams a reality. His inspiration for project? Not surprisingly, the Minority Report UI (aka g-speak). Similar projects like MIT's hack do exist, but it's brilliant knowing that another emulation has been made rather quickly with Redmond's tools. In a brief video using the Kinect on Windows 7, he demos various ways of manipulating on-screen content with hand gestures and body tracking -- neglecting his mouse in the process. It's still a work in progress, but the results are already quite striking, so take that ancient input device and click past the break for the full demo.

Continue reading KinectNUI enables Minority Report style interaction in Windows sans gloves (video)

KinectNUI enables Minority Report style interaction in Windows sans gloves (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TriMount turns your Wii, Kinect, and PlayStation sensors into a video game Eye of Sauron

Brian Heater — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:59:00 EST

All right, we get it. You love motion gaming. You fell so hard for your Wii that you had to run out and buy the Kinect and PlayStation Move the minute they hit stores. And now you've got a lot of sensors, but not much in the way of space atop your flatscreen. DreamGear understands your decidedly first world pain, and is offering up the TriMount, a shrine to gesture-based gaming that has slots for your Wii sensor bar, Kinect sensor, PlayStation Eye, and a clamp for attaching it to your set. The $30 setup ships August 15th, and is available now for pre-order. Until then, you're going to have to manage the old fashioned way: making a younger sibling hold up the sensor while you play Dance Central.

TriMount turns your Wii, Kinect, and PlayStation sensors into a video game Eye of Sauron originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kinect enabled head-tracking previewed in Forza 4 spotlight video, turns heads (video)

Joe Pollicino — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 23:19:00 EST

Ever since Johnny Chung Lee was snatched up by Microsoft's Project Natal team to work on Kinect, we've been curious to see how his Wii head-tracking skills would come to fruition on the device. This week, an Inside Xbox episode shows us how it will work with Forza 4, and the Kinect enabled head-tracking appears to run fairly smoothly compared to others we've seen (just try getting similar results on Gran Turismo 5 with a PlayStation Eye). There's no word about other titles planning to make use of this new feature, but we'll surely find out more while we're at E3 next week, and possibly get some ~~hands~~ heads-on time while we're at it.

Kinect enabled head-tracking previewed in Forza 4 spotlight video, turns heads (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 23:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony giving away PlayStation Move for block parties, along with completely wild freebies

Sean Hollister — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:00:00 EST

Looking for a free PlayStation Move setup and a bunch of useless schwag? Too bad you didn't sign up for Sony's Ultimate Block Party. In the vein of the hilarious Windows 7 and TiVo promo giveaways of yesteryear, PlayStation's thrown a virtual bash that actually requires a modicum of interaction to properly enjoy this time. As this isn't a retail Move package, there's no traditional unboxing to be had, but soon-to-be-host Phil does show off a demo disk (with eight titles and uproarious setup guide) that we pray will be included in the final kit. Other than that, the promo box includes your standard array of party supplies -- PlayStation Move cocktail napkins, Sports Champions mini-frisbees, plastic soda can handles, and the gift that keeps on giving: a bag of Kevin Butler button badges. Because real boxers don't do Tupperware. Spot all the goodies at our source link.

Sony giving away PlayStation Move for block parties, along with completely wild freebies originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Students accelerate cubicle arms race with PlayStation Eye-tracked, iPhone-guided coilgun (video)

Sean Hollister — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:37:00 EST

DIY weaponry gets more lethal with each passing year; where once we were content with a simple foam missile launcher, technology has progressed such that our automated turrets now spew screwdriver bits, airsoft and paintballs. As progress forges ahead, two engineering students at the University of Arkansas have added injury to insult with this four-stage DIY coilgun. Using an Arduino microcontroller to actuate the firing mechanism and steer the monstrous wooden frame, they nimbly control the badass kit with an iDevice over WiFi, and line up targets using a repurposed PlayStation Eye webcam. While we'd of course prefer to have our phone SSH into the gun over 3G, we're not going to argue with success. We'd like to keep our lungs un-perforated, thank you very much. See it in action after the break.

Continue reading Students accelerate cubicle arms race with PlayStation Eye-tracked, iPhone-guided coilgun (video)

Students accelerate cubicle arms race with PlayStation Eye-tracked, iPhone-guided coilgun (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 07:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq and Sony VP Scott Rohde talk PlayStation Move

Joseph L. Flatley — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:49:00 EST

So, we brought you along for the big reveal and some playtesting, and even presented you with this handy guide just in case you had any more questions. You still haven't got enough of Sony's new motion controller? You're going to want to hop on over to Joystiq for an enjoyable interview with Sony Worldwide Studios VP Scott Rohde where he gets down to brass tacks and answers questions involving the ins and outs of Move game distro, whether the preponderance of "shovelware" mini-game collections will help or hurt the platform, and the fate of the DualShock controller. It's a wild ride, indeed. So why are you still here?

Joystiq and Sony VP Scott Rohde talk PlayStation Move originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PlayStation Move: everything you ever wanted to know

Paul Miller — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:31:00 EST

Sony dropped a lot of knowledge on us yesterday, at long last replacing rampant speculation with some cold hard facts -- and even a name! -- for its new PlayStation motion controller. The PlayStation Move is being described as a "platform" and a "virtual console launch" by folks at Sony, and we think they mean it, so prepare for a motion-controlled ad war later this year, as Microsoft and Sony set themselves up for a real three-way fight with Nintendo for your physical living room activity of the gaming variety. While some of the high-level Wii-like functionalities might be obvious, follow us after the break as we walk through the nitty gritty of everything we know so far about Move. Gallery: PlayStation Move press photos

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PlayStation Move: everything you ever wanted to know originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Creepy, laughter-tracking PS3 patent has us rethinking Sony's whole PlayStation Eye strategy

Paul Miller — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:02:00 EST

Don't they know people look at these things? A recently awarded PS3 patent includes this harrowing "FIG. 2," which portrays a fictional idiot laughing at some "Crazy Inventors" programming, while the PS3 tracks Mr. Laugh's every movement and sound through the PlayStation Eye. The brooding, spiteful console could theoretically pick up on different moods like sadness, excitement, joy and boredom -- before presumably changing up action onscreen to quell that pesky uprising of "emotion" in the subject.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Creepy, laughter-tracking PS3 patent has us rethinking Sony's whole PlayStation Eye strategy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony's EyePet beta hands-on: it's probably the most adorable thing ever

Paul Miller — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:59:00 EST

We just got a brief glimpse at the new PlayStation Eye-based augmented reality EyePet game from Sony, which is on track for a holiday release on the PS3. It's no Project Natal, but what the game lacks in gesture-based interaction (though we were able to pet and play with the little guy pretty intuitively) it makes up for in extensive adorability. You can naturally play, feed, groom and customize your pet -- even teach the thing to draw shapes and bring them to life in a sense -- but it's surprisingly fun to just watch the little dude scamper around in seemingly real space. The title will be available both as a standalone game and as a bundle with the PlayStation Eye. Check out a video of the game in an early beta state after the break, and you can find Joystiq's E3 impressions of the game here.

Continue reading Sony's EyePet beta hands-on: it's probably the most adorable thing ever

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming

Sony's EyePet beta hands-on: it's probably the most adorable thing ever originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony's PlayStation Eye to gain facial recognition capabilities

Joseph L. Flatley — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:57:00 EST

It was almost two weeks ago that we first heard about the patent for Sony's PlayStation Eye-powered object motion detection, and now the company's announcing facial recognition for the console. According to Gamasutra, Kish Hirani, SCEE's Head of Developer Services, said that the facial recognition software would "detect gender and even the age of the face, separate facial features such as the nose, eyes and ears, and even detect whether you're smiling or not." This new gear will also work with the Sony Motion Controller, with the camera tracking X, Y and Z motion by using the glowing ball. Speaking at the Develop Conference in Brighton, Hirani stressed that companies won't need to develop their own tech to work with the new controllers. "If you are working with the PlayStation Eye and think there is some new tech you're going to have to develop for the motion controllers, just get in touch with us. We have a wealth of libraries available, and the chances are you won't have to develop any technology yourself." You hear that, guys? get to work!

[Via SlashGear]

Filed under: Gaming

Sony's PlayStation Eye to gain facial recognition capabilities originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony nabs patent for everyday object motion detection: the fragile glass of your TV won't know what hit it

Paul Miller — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:13:00 EST

All we've got to say is that they'd better be selling seats to the first living room demonstration of this tech when somebody gets cute and grabs a real baseball bat for a demo. Sony has filed a patent for technology using the PlayStation Eye which can detect regular objects in 3D space and file them away in a database for later use in gameplay. Naturally, the camera already does object motion detection of a sort with the blocky embedded codes on Eye of Judgement cards, but this seems to be taking that tech to a new level, and would imply that you won't necessarily need to be waggling that goofy ball-on-a-stick controller that Sony demoed at E3 for all upcoming motion control titles for the PS3. But for some reason we're sure we should be scared of whatever combination it does turn out to be.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Sony nabs patent for everyday object motion detection: the fragile glass of your TV won't know what hit it originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PS3's motion controller: force feedback, up to four per console

Ross Miller — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:29:00 EST

Sony has taken a few of its developers aside and doled out a few new morsels of info about its upcoming PlayStation 3 motion controller. Leaving the Sixaxis as the black sheep of the family, the wand supports force feedback from the get-go, and up to four of the devices can be tracked at one time. The technology can work in conjunction with PlayStation Eye's face / head tracking and built-in mic, but naturally that's gonna tax the Cell processor more. The company's reportedly considering some joint use of the motion remote and standard controller, with the example given of holding the wand as sword and DualShock 3 as shield. We're not sure if that'll somehow count additionally toward the max wand limit -- probably not, at the expense of not using the more accurate color-changing ball tracker -- but it's definitely more cost efficient for the consumer than having to pick up another remote. Tentatively launch window is still Spring 2010, which as it turns out is infinitely more than what we know about Natal's release date at this point.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

PS3's motion controller: force feedback, up to four per console originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PlayStation Eye gets utility boost, hacked to work as webcam

Darren Murph — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:33:00 EST

Remember that PlayStation Eye you purchased way back when? You know, that PS peripheral you used for all of 12 minutes before shelving indefinitely? It's time to break that bad boy back out, as a detailed hack from the NUI Group shows how to convert it into a working webcam within Windows. Make no mistake, this isn't the simplest hack in the whole wide world, but the long-winded instructions ought to guide you right through. What are you waiting for? Head on down and get to work!

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming, Peripherals

PlayStation Eye gets utility boost, hacked to work as webcam originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PlayStation Eye hacked for desktop VR use

Donald Melanson — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:21:00 EST

The Wiimote may be spurring on the majority of desktop VR hackery these days, but at least one enterprising developer seems to be aiming to change that, and he's now showing that you can do more or less the same thing with a PlayStation Eye. As with the Wiimote, you need a pair of homemade IR-equipped glasses, but you'll also need to perform a couple of minor modifications to the PS Eye itself. That all-important detail consists simply of a homemade lens cap that houses some exposed and developed film, which lets the camera receive only the infrared signals from the glasses. Pair that with some custom-made software (now available for the taking), and you'll be giving unsuspecting visitors motion sickness in no time. Head on over after the break for a peek at the setup in action.

Continue reading PlayStation Eye hacked for desktop VR use

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

PlayStation Eye hacked for desktop VR use originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony doles out more details on PlayStation Eye

Darren Murph — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:59:00 EST

With just under a fortnight to go before folks go a-grabbin' for Sony's PlayStation Eye, a Senior Producer for SCEA has come forward with a few more lingering details about the peripheral. For starters, Sony apparently has plans to integrate the device into other upcoming titles such as SingStar, which will enable users to "make their own personalized music videos to share with family and friends online." Additionally, the EyeCreate software -- which will allow individuals to "save, edit and share PlayStation Eye videos, photos and audio clips" through their PS3 -- will be available as a free download on the PlayStation Store. Finally, those not interested in the bundled Eye of Judgment game can opt for a standalone unit on October 23rd, which is set to ring up at $39.99.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming, Peripherals

Sony doles out more details on PlayStation Eye originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq's hands-on with the PlayStation Eye

Joshua Topolsky — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:30:00 EST

The fanatical crew of card-and-video-game enthusiasts over at Joystiq have apparently had the unique pleasure of a hands-on with the newest and wackiest PS3 accessory, the PlayStation Eye and its bundled game Eye of Judgment. If you'll recall, the interactive, VGA camera is integrated with the Magic: The Gathering-like game, which uses real cards and a mat that the camera is aimed at. We understand the Joystiq team really put the game (and the Eye) through its paces in a 36-hour, pepperoni-pizza-filled, jolt-drinking marathon, which ended when one of the players' chaotic-neutral wizards cast "sleep" on everyone, but exhausted his remaining mana in the process. Browse on over to the Joystiq'ers pad and get all the nasty details.

Filed under: Gaming

Joystiq's hands-on with the PlayStation Eye originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony's PlayStation Eye gets a release date

Joshua Topolsky — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:41:00 EST

For those of you whose salivary glands have been working overtime when thinking about Sony's new PlayStation Eye PS3 camera accessory (and we're sure there's at least one or two of you), you better go get a napkin. According to reports, the interactive, VGA cam will be heading out to stores bundled with Hasrbo's RPG / card game The Eye of Judgment on October 23rd, for the shockingly low price of $69.99. No word on whether that bundle will include the EyeCreate editing software, or when / if the Eye will be available on its own. Hey -- you'll probably want the game anyhow.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming

Sony's PlayStation Eye gets a release date originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony announces PlayStation Eye webcam for PS3

Evan Blass — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:55:00 EST

Well it may not be the high-definition EyeToy HD IP webcam that gamers had been hoping for, but Sony has finally announced the (first?) official EyeToy for PS3, called simply the PlayStation Eye. With an array of four microphones, two zoom levels, and capture rate as high as 120fps, the Eye promises to deliver unprecedented cam-enhanced gameplay, although the VGA video resolution (and that's at 'only' 60fps) will probably nonetheless be a disappointment to some. Bundled in with the not-yet-priced package will be EyeCreate editing software, which allows users to add different effects to their content as well as record footage using time-lapse and slow-mo settings, among others. No word yet on other specs (still shot res?) or compatible games, either, but we imagine that a lot more info will trickle out as the Eye's planned summer release date grows nearer.

Update: Well what do you know, Sony and Hasbro also announced Eye of Judgment, the visual, interactive-card driven game they demoed at E3 last year. Good luck keeping people from printing out their own cards from the internet, guys. Should be out in Europe this summer, and the rest of the world this fall.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming, Peripherals

Sony announces PlayStation Eye webcam for PS3 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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