@Squidz
I'm not saying Sony tested the Primesense tech. I'm saying that they did not just test the 3DV one, because there's way more 3d cameras out there. They've been used in small robotics for a long while, and while their cost hasn't been affordable for a console peripheral until recent times, testing on their specs and on the opportunities is probably a given for any big firm working on machine-human interfaces.
As for primesense and 3dv: I'd say it's quite clear. Once again from the DF article
"PrimeSense is using proprietary technology that we call Light Coding. It's proprietary. No other company in the world uses that," Adi Berenson says proudly.
...
Light Coding on the other hand does what it says on the tin: light very close to infrared on the spectrum bathes the scene. What PrimeSense calls "a sophisticated parallel computational algorithm" deciphers the IR data into a depth image. The firm says that this solution, like time of flight, works whatever the lighting conditions of the scene.
"The Natal device's 3D acquisition part is based on our technology, not on time of flight," re-affirms Aviad Maizels.
Bold mine. Notice that every time he speaks of their technology he's speaking about the IR sensor and the data processing that builds the depth map. He seems to be proud of the adoption of their tech (rightly so, if it really comes out as a solid, cheaper alternative) and he never once mentions the software. Later on in the article, speaking about their SOC-based offer:
This is backed up by a bespoke middleware called NITE that is capable of constructing human skeletal data from the image, and thus tracking human motion. Although it is similar to the Natal tech demos we've seen where the system is capable of tracking individual human skeletons, the implementations are radically different. PrimeSense's involvement begins with the camera and ends with the creation of the depth-map for the RGB image.
Again, it sounds quite clear to me. PrimeSense have their own skeletal modelling middleware, but the system they're providing with Natal is only the hardware up to the depth map. Why? Because MS already has one, built by their research teams including the guys from 3DV.
The guy from PrimeSense knows this very well, but he obviously wants to stress what value MS found in his business (the sensor), which is why he talks so much of the camera and goes explicitely no-comment about the rest:
"We believe that the selection of this technology for the first generation at least is testimony that our proprietary patented method is the best price/performance and the most ready for production. Other than that we are not going to comment in any shape or form on the reasons or the background around the fact that Microsoft also elected to purchase the assets of a company that followed another technology."
After all, they've not been acquired, they're only a partner. They provide their slightly more complex system-on-a-chip+software solution for PC-based interfaces and he wants to leverage the MS deal to be a big player in that market as well. What should have he said? "Our sensor is cheaper and accurate enough, but our skeletal processing software sucks compared to 3DV's"? :)
