PS3 Head Tracking Software

[Sqrl]

taxman said:

Sqrl said:
This is really simple, lets deal in facts:

-The PS3 version uses processing power to track your location, and a significant amount of it as facial recognition is not a lite-weight application. Once the face is recognized the software also needs to convert this into coordinates.
-The Wii version uses no processing power to track your location, the IR camera being used has circuitry integrated that tracks 4 points of IR light and returns their coordinates to the system.
- Both methods require the console to handle the effect on the game.
- The Eye updates its 640x480 image at 60 FPS, however the video displayed shows it running at around 25-30 FPS, this is more obvious when its showing the facial tracking portion. A final product could easily be optimised for full 60FPS imo.
-The Wii method tracks an unspecified resolution always at 30 FPS.
-Based on the tech specs I could find on the Eye it is incapable of accurate depth perception without additional information from the user.
-The Wii method can track accurate depth with the sensor bar but with the IR glasses would also require additional user input.
- The average Wii owner wishing to enable Head Tracking would require a game(software) that recognizes it and IR LED glasses with are about $3-$5.
-The average PS3 owner wishing to enable Head Tracking would require a game(software) that recognizes it and the Eye which is $70 with the game at Target (didn't see it without).
-The PS3 method runs the risk of false positives if others are sitting near/around you and has no clear way to distinguish who it should focus on.
-The Wii method utilizing the IR glasses has no trouble staying focused on the correct target since they must wear the glasses.

Say what you will about them but based on the information freely available on the interwebz those are the weaknesses and strengths I could find. Personally I think the Wii has a slight edge with current tech, but realistically speaking it doesn't matter. There simply will not be very many games with head tracking this generation and IF it becomes a big deal at all it will be next generation and everyone will have the opportunity to implement technology designed for it rather than backporting existing tech to achieve the goal.

Well you should really add that for the Wii you HAVE to mount the Wiimote on top of your TV in order to track your relative position. This means that you have to have an extra Wiimote (+$50) besides the glasses and/or sensor bar on head, in order ot make it work and play the game with another one in your hand. So in terms of pricing, it is comparable...

You are right though about the false tracking risk that exists with the PSEye...

I'm almost certain the average Wii owner has 2 Wii-motes and since head tracking is only a viable feature for a single user my statement is correct.  The point is that not many PS3 owners have the eye and most would have to buy it and almost exclusively for that purpose in most cases..a second Wii-Mote is something most Wii owners already have and probably want anyways if they don't have two.  My point is that if we are trying to figure out how much extra it cost my analysis is correct, if you want to know how much it cost from scratch then we can add in console prices etc...

@Fury

Just noticing that something is getting larger and smaller can be used to detect if it is getting closer or farther but doesn't actually provide depth.  With that said I do believe that for this application it can mimic it well enough to make the effect look good.  Both solutions are capable of this mimicry.  Also note that facial recognitiion is not perfect and it refines itself from frame to frame (as seen in the video), the result is that something like turning your head slightly could be sorely missinterpreted.  Needless to say the implementation of the Eye method is much more taxing in terms of development and CPU time, or in short in order to avoid missinterpretations (which is very doable) the software needs to be fairly robust which impacts development time and CPU load.

I want to be clear that I'm not going out of my way to favor one over the other here.  It is a simple matter of fact that two permanently afixed points on someone's head are easier to interpret in this application than attempting to accomplish the same thing through facial recognition.  I actually think the facial recognition method is likely how it will be done in the future as good software can allow for much more than just positioning. Things like facial expression could be used as input for example, so in games like LBP your SackBoy's facial expressions could mimic your own.  From that standpoint the technology is extremely promising and I want to be clear that I'm not implying its a bad way to go about it.  Just that this incarnation is not up to that quality in terms of hardware and in addition to that problem the current consoles do not have the horsepower to handle great graphics, with great AI, great physics, with facial recognition, and expression interpretation, etc, etc... even high end PCs would likely be extremely taxed to pull it off.

As for locking onto a face, see my point about a robust software suite being required.  Much of the problems are certainly solvable but again this is at the expense of CPU load and development time. 

And finally on the subject of purchasing the Eye by itself, I couldn't find it with my search at target, amazon, and walmart but I do remember hearing about it.   What is its price by itself?  I'm sure quite a few people would get it by itself rather than the whole package.