Si antes vimos una idea primitiva de lo que sería el Eyetoy de Playstation 3 en el E3 2005, donde con dos vasos podías interactuar con el agua en 3D del videojuego, ahorita podemos ver lo que de verdad será:


[img]http://www.newscientisttech.com/data/images/archive/2548/25481501.jpg[/img]

Nosotros convertidos en 3D e interactuando con el escenario.

[quote]Even though these new kinds of features are available, persuading games developers to use them is an uphill struggle, says Marks. He admits that there remain limitations with the EyeToy - fast, complex movements may remain problematic, for example - but developers might be able to find creative ways to get around them, he says. Marks gives the example of early computer games in which the graphics pallet was limited to four colours. What developers quickly learned to do was swap pallets in the middle of generating a scene so that the top half of the screen was rendered with different colours to the bottom half. It was an idea that effectively doubled the number of colours that the player would see. "It's those kinds of tricks that we need to see more of for the EyeToy," he says.

Some are already emerging. For example, there is no force feedback with the EyeToy - get hit by a virtual ball or bullet, say, and you feel nothing. However, you can achieve a remarkable approximation using sound. "Your brain does most of the work," Marks says. "Sound doesn't replace force feedback, but it is the next best thing."

Marks has his sights set on some new tricks, too. One of the biggest drawbacks of video input at the moment is that it gives only a two-dimensional image of the player. His dream is to translate the three-dimensional movements of the player into the actions of a character or object in the game. Stereo images produced with two cameras are not the answer, he says, because such an arrangement has to be carefully calibrated each time the game is played to correct for any slight differences in alignment of the cameras. "That is a stumbling block for home use," he says. Another option is to measure distance using the camera's focusing system, but that gives only a rough idea based on what part of the image the camera has focused on.

A much more promising approach is beginning to take shape thanks to a new generation of cameras that are sensitive to infrared light as well as visible wavelengths. These cameras can record accurate three-dimensional images using infrared flashes (see Illustration). When a scene - a player holding one hand out towards the camera, say - is illuminated with an infrared flash, the games console can measure how long it takes the light to travel to the player's body and be reflected back into the camera. This information is used to create a contour map of the player. Repeat the process 60 times a second and you have a 3D movie.

"With a 3D camera, You can import your entire body into the game"

Marks has already begun experiments. With a 3D camera, he can import his entire body into a game. When he dances, his on-screen character - a skeleton at the moment - dances too. When he punches or kicks, the skeleton mimics his movements exactly. With this kind of technology, says Marks, your imagination is the limit.