Sony Patents Kinect-Like 3D Depth-Sensing Camera for PlayStation Consoles
It’s no secret that the Kinect is outselling the PlayStation Move by quite a fair margin, so Sony may be looking to come out with their own Kinect competitor that can actually sense depth and track subtle movements where the PS Eye cannot. A newly published patent has revealed that the company has begun work on a new 3D camera that could potentially be a part of the PlayStation 4.
Only just published, what’s most interesting about the patent is that is was originally filed last October – a full year after the Kinect launched and broke Guinness World Records for sales. Sony previously admitted they had looked into 3D cameras long before the Kinect was a reality, but decided against it in favor of a button-based peripheral – the PS Move. However, now that Move and PS Eye-creator Dr Richard Marks has published the new patent, it does certainly suggest that the company has once again started to look into such a system.
The patent says:
An invention is provided for affording a real-time three-dimensional interactive environment using a depth sensing device. The invention includes obtaining depth values indicating distances from one or more physical objects in a physical scene to a depth sensing device.
Continuing (emphasis added):
A system for providing a real-time three-dimensional interactive environment, comprising: a depth sensing device capable of obtaining depth values indicating distances from one or more physical objects in a physical scene to a depth sensing device…
The patent also suggests that the camera would use a system similar to the Kinect’s, where it sprays out infared to determine depth (watch this cool vid to see how):
wherein the depth sensing device is a depth camera using controlled infrared lighting
Along with the patent, some drawings were also included that show how depth would be recognized:
A Kinect-like camera for the PlayStation 4 would make a lot of sense – it’s too late to try to introduce another camera this gen, but with Microsoft sure to have a next-gen Kinect, Sony will need something to be able to compete against them with – which is why we included it on our PS4 Wishlist.
Would you like a PlayStation Kinect? Let us know in the comments below.
[Via]
14 Responses to “Sony Patents Kinect-Like 3D Depth-Sensing Camera for PlayStation Consoles”
Damn sony you just never give up! Hoping to see what this thing will turn out like.
…AAAAnd ANOTHER expensive and overhyped peripheral attachment to eat up half of Sony’s presentation time come E3.
You know, I liked it a lot better when the videogame industry actually focused on GAMES.
I like the idea but as long as it incorporate buttons too. I do not like kinect because of that. If Sony put that technology on the ps4 with buttons it will be a total hit.
a “kinect-like” camera combined with the Move controllers (because they better not just expect me to throw them away after such little use) would prove to be the ideal motion controlled gaming experience…The only downfall of the Move right now, apart from lack of games, is the PS Eye camera.
The only reason though, that Kinect is selling better than Move, is the number of casual gamers in the world interested in dancing games. It’s not like they have any other titles that sell well for Kinect apart from dancing and they are probably selling a few to those who feel the need to control games using voice command…poor fools who think voice commands are something new and spectacular provided by Kinect…it’s called a microphone. The fact that Microsoft is only allowing voice commands, in the games that support it, through Kinect is a slap in the face to every Microsoft gamer. I’m sure Mass Effect 3 will sell some Kinects though just because some fools are going to want this “fancy new feature.”
Sony is still trying to find the “secret formula” that would catch the masses like the Wii did. Now it seems Nintendo is not likely to build on the Wii’s success (honestly, Wii U doesn’t seem to me to be next thing to hook the casual masses), I think Sony is looking at Kinect and thinking they can improve upon that, couple it with 3D, Move (to some extent for more traditional games) and they may find the right balance. Move didn’t attract more casual gamers because it didn’t have many (good) casual games, nothing new to bring to the table even with such amazing interface and functionality, the price was not great either.
No. No no no! This is a terrible idea! I dont want the PS brand to start copying other devices just to sell well. I dont want stupid dance camera games, and motion based shit to take over the industry, and crush controller based gaming. I want to be able to relax and play a nice game like uncharted without having to jump all over the place just to play it. I hate this idea, let Microsoft stick to their terrible ideas and products. Leave Sony to make real consoles and keep hardcore games around forever.
“Damn sony you just never give up!”
lol this is EXACTLY what they had NOT done with the Move.
This is another billion dollar net loss waiting to happen. Sony needs to focus more on Move exclusive games (casual and core) and market the sh*t out of it.
Yeah, yeah Kinect has sold billions
but its still a pile of CR*P LoL
Sony was into 3D R&D a long time ago, during the PS EyeToy days. Well at least into motion detection gaming. They rejected the “Kinect” before it was bought by Micro$haft, the company shopped the Kinect camera to all the major console and PC makers in the late 90′s. The wholesale price they were looking for was in the hundred’s of dollars at the time. What M$ has done is to remove most of the computer hardware that came with the camera and replaced it with Software API’s to bring the cost down.
All Sony has to due is to create a FW that will work with 3D applications for the PSEye which they have been doing for the last decade to perfect. There have been glimpses at GDC and Asian conferences for software development over the years, now is the time to pull the trigger for updated camera hardware and it could work with the PS3 since a lot of the development was done on PS3′s. The PS4 will just be a multi-core Cell Broadband and if not it will be more along the lines of the Vita’s CPU.
Sure but can you answer the real question to me: why? I don’t have a Kinect and I don’t want one. The same thing for the Wii and you know why? Simply because I hate motion control. Most of the time its gimmick. So I can’t see any reason soon why the PS4 would be better in this field.
I would like to see ps4 tied into the cloud. With unlimited storage for games as well saves. And don’t restrict used games
I knew they would improve the camera. They needed to.
Baffling.
Sony releases PS Eye, with little to no success, primarily due to a combination of a lack of interest and a lack of software to support it.
Then Nintendo releases the Wii, selling it to massive numbers of uninformed non-gamers who think they want to game by moving around. Most of them realize they might as well just continue playing sports in real life, and their Wii’s collect a ton of dust.
Years later, Microsoft copies Sony and improves upon the Eye with skeletal tracking. Markets the hell out of it, sells a tons to consumers who later realize this gimmick is only fun for about an hour, total.
In a seemingly last ditch effort to get in on the market of motion gaming, Sony also rereleases the Eye with the “Move”, which also is mostly fail due to a lack of demand in combination with a lack of software to support it.
And now, as if the FAIL sign wasn’t big enough, they’re trying yet again to make and market something that nobody is really asking for? Seriously, where is the demand for this stuff?? It’s tedious to the point that I’d rather clean my entire apartment with a miniature tooth brush while my girlfriend tallies up points for every square inch I clean per hour. At least then I’d get what I actually want in the end – fun motion activities – which these little devices will never provide.