PlayStation Eye Already Has Facial Recognition Capability

The more we learn about the PlayStation Eye and that corresponding motion technology Sony has planned, the more intrigued we become.

One of the bigger draws of Microsoft's Project Natal is the tech's ability to recognize facial expressions but lo and behold, that same capability is already present in the Eye. According to Develop, Sony has already developed facial recognition software for the PSEye camera, and it seems the SCEE research and development team has already tested it. Head of developer services, Kish Hirani, said "it's a lot of fun in the office," and they already have a "wealth of libraries available" for the Eye. This capability lets the camera recognize and process the position and direction of the player's head, and can even determine gender and approximate age of the face. It goes a step further by acknowledging the facial features; nose, mouth, eyes, eyebrows, and even glasses. This is the type of thing that borders on virtual reality in our minds, and it's almost difficult to comprehend...wasn't there a time in the not-too-distant past where they couldn't even make artificially constructed objects appear like objects in real life? Remember when a ball came out looking like a square 'cuz there was no such thing as rounded edges? Now we're talking about a thing that can read our very faces and put it on a screen? That's kooky talk.

Well, anyway, whenever this new technology arrives, we'll be certain to give it a thorough testing ourselves. We may not be the biggest fans of the Wii, but this is the type of crazy-advanced motion sensing we might be able to identify with.

7/16/2009 Ben Dutka

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Comments (42 posts)

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Wage SLAVES
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:13:43 PM
Reply

I realized that when I saw Natal. They were making all these claims on stage that Sony previously put on a box. They are just yelling it out. That is the difference. M$ hype. Though I believe Natal is slightly more advanced but I bet the dollar diff. will be even more so.

Last edited by Wage SLAVES on 7/16/2009 10:19:47 PM

4 up, 0 down

godsman
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:19:11 PM

Exactly what I said previously. EyePet has the item recognition a year ago. You can scan objects and use them in the game. I am really excited about this game, just so people can see that Microsoft copied Sony. (and sony copied Wii controller)

1 up, 2 down

JMO_INDY
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:55:46 PM

i want an inbetween button,i would give you one,the up for the M$ hype stuff,and a down for the Natal is more advanced,granted thats your opinion,and i respect that. But ill go a head and give you a thumbs up.

3 up, 1 down

Wage SLAVES
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 12:48:34 AM

Ok, Ill clear that....Ever so slightly?

1 up, 1 down

Orvisman
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 9:23:43 AM

This is the problem with Sony this gen.

It has this amazing piece of tech in the PlayStation Eye and it doesn't document or advertise all of the Eye's cool functions and abilities.

Then, of course, Sony lets M$ft steal all of the Eye's thunder with Natal.

Now Sony looks like a me too company.

Damn it Sony! The Eye has been out for how many years, so where are the games using it to its full potential?

3 up, 0 down

JMO_INDY
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:39:08 PM
Reply

That is hilarios,Microsoft claiming there rethinking entertainment,imo that sir is an epic fail.lmfao

4 up, 1 down

BTNwarrior
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:39:57 PM
Reply

Hopefully some devs will implement this into games in a way that would actually be cool.

They tried it in Rainbow Six Vegas 2 by having the eye scan your face and put your head on the character, but it seemed pretty half assed and it never turned out to look like you. But if they implemented it using all that crazy scanning tech instead of just a picture, features like this could make a game pretty bad ass

4 up, 0 down

Jed
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:43:48 PM

I think it would be really badass if they could get that to work on any game where you customize your character.

2 up, 0 down

Bugzbunny109
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 11:37:47 PM

BTNwarrior
Your avatar is scary as hell.

0 up, 2 down

PS3addict
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 10:42:34 AM

Face Breaker has this and makes a character that is pretty close to you including facial hair. Takes freaking forever to create it, but it is sweet.

1 up, 0 down

Jed
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:42:16 PM
Reply

I had heard about some of the abilities that the PSEye had, but I had been wondering when the hell they were going to use them. The only software I have seen for the PS3 so far is much like the original Eye toy.

I don't think I'd like the "no controller" aspect of NATAL, but I think it would be cool if we could do facial recog. and maybe head tracking stuff with the PSEye, while staying with the controller.

4 up, 0 down

PS3addict
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 10:43:47 AM

Use it with Burnout paradise, You get 5 seconds of live footage of other players when you take them out, It is freaking hilarious!

1 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:48:08 PM
Reply

If technology keeps pace the way it has, I can sooo picture this scenerio in the nearfuture....

You finally happen to pick up a used copy of inFamous.

You get stuck in the same section, and killed 1463 times.

He "WILL" be able to recognize that it was you that, in your moment of fustration, just shot the middle finger at him.

The next thing, you're picking yourself off the floor cause he came right out of the game just so he give you a big ole zap of red lightening payback, right up your whazoo.

"Priceless"!!!!

Last edited by BikerSaint on 7/16/2009 10:49:47 PM

3 up, 5 down

Alienange
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:49:57 PM
Reply

My money will never go towards this virtual reality crap. It's expensive and the fun doesn't last.

3 up, 4 down

JMO_INDY
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 10:58:23 PM

But seeing yourself in a game is priceless. Its just fun to see yourself doing actions u used to only be able to do with a controller,but i do have a PS eye for my PS3 (for video chat), i much prefer the DS3 controller. More accurate imo. More relaxing.

Last edited by JMO_INDY on 7/16/2009 10:58:44 PM

4 up, 2 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 2:29:01 AM

I managed to make a very good copy of myself in both HOME and Fallout 3 with the customizers.

3 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 11:01:08 PM
Reply

I think that with respect the the PSEye and face recognition it's already here, just as some games now implement voice recognition, it's just waiting for an application.

The software that Sony has already sold on PSN for the Eye demonstrates much of the controller-less interface that Natal presented as if it was state of the art and new. The facial recognition has been talked about before, I can't remember the exact context, but it's been mentioned before by Sony.

The thing is that standing in your living room in front of the TV waving your arms around while playing a game that uses motion controls makes you feel a tad foolish. For some games, I can see it working, but not the majority of games. I don't really foresee a time when we will literally dive to the floor when playing an FPS game and taking cover under fire.

5 up, 0 down

HeXeN
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 11:34:30 PM

While I was wowing Natal after the MS conference you were saying all along that the PS Eye has the same capabilities so big ups.If they release a "good" game using these features I'll finally pick up one for my self.

4 up, 0 down

JofaMang
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 12:26:11 AM

Socom 1 and 2 for the PS2 had voice recognition. Using the mic that was bundled, you could give commands to your CPU team members during the single player campaigns. Socom 3 might have had it as well, but I can't specifically recall. I remember it working quite well actually, once you got used to the required vocal cadence.

Fire Team Bravo!
Breach Bang Clear!

3 up, 0 down

Ricochet
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 11:26:58 PM
Reply

You know what would really hurt NATAL. It's when M$ starts talking about the PSEye having no facial recognition technology only to have a "firmware update" fix that issue. That would be an extremely funny scenario.

3 up, 0 down

Kangasfwa
Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 11:32:40 PM
Reply

"We may not be the biggest fans of the Wii, but this is the type of crazy-advanced motion sensing we might be able to identify with."

That's because the Wii replaces face buttons with gestures and project natal will use some kind of phantom control. Sony's motion tech ("Hand-Eye" perhaps?) is *real* motion control.

The wands are independent of each other, not tethered like with the Wii mote and nunchuck. That allows much more freedom of movement, which leads to more natural motions and more fun. Especially with the precision of the wands.

Yeah, yeah I know. I haven't actually tried this myself, but based on my experiences with the Wii, I can see so much more real potential here...

Remember the (brief) building blocks demo? They mentioned something about unlimited game potential... And Media Molecule would love to make a Little Big Planet 2 right?

Last edited by Kangasfwa on 7/16/2009 11:35:03 PM

4 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 2:39:31 AM

Legos on screen man. That would give us grown ups an excuse to play with legos again :)

4 up, 0 down

firehahahahaha
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 1:03:16 AM
Reply

I thought the eyetoy on the PS2 did all this stuff?

3 up, 0 down

eLLeJuss
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 1:07:13 AM
Reply

Well i just think playing a game without a controller doesn't really give you the good old feeling of playing video games. At first it may be fun but after awhile it gets kind of.... akward.

2 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 2:43:26 AM
Reply

What else did anyone expect, MS has a history of taking established tech, repackaging it as new and hyping it.

4 up, 0 down

JMO_INDY
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 3:28:09 AM
Reply

The PS Eye shoots in High Res. Uhhh....Natal doesn't,whos gonna be more accurate? i wonder.* cough...PS Eye...cough* excuse me.lol PS Eye ftw. Did anyone else notice you can hook up about any webcam and or mic to your little old PS3, including X-Box's current Live camera? haha! So that begs the question,will the Natal Camera work on the PS3? probably not,but you never know.i bet they didnt intend for the X-Box Live cam to work on the PS3 either. Oh Microsoft, when will you learn? You cant win. Youd think a company with so much exp. in this field would learn to interconnect all of its devices,hell the PS3 can hook up a printer,mouse, and keyboard for christ's sake.But the MICROSOFT console couldnt even install an Internet browser? Even the freaking DS has one. Well ive successfully vented.

4 up, 1 down

GlavinChris
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 8:08:23 AM
Reply

I certainly dont want my ugly face on the screen.

-The Glavin

7 up, 0 down

N a S a H
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 9:03:59 AM

lolz

2 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 9:19:11 AM
Reply

M$ taking old tech, slapping their name on it and calling it new?!! Say it ain't so!!

4 up, 1 down

dveisalive
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 9:35:09 AM
Reply

I was just watching CES 09 again on youtube and this technology with the facial recognition with the infrared TV's that you can use your face as well as your movements with your hand to browse or operate etc... are getting closer to Minority Report

2 up, 0 down

Dancemachine55
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 9:44:22 AM
Reply

If there's one thing I've learnt, it's to never trust Microsoft or their marketing. Sadly, many people do.

At E3 2009, Microsoft was believed to have the best show simply because of the hype they were building around multiplatform games (advertised exclusively to their console). Rock Band The Beatles, Tony Hawk Ride, COD: Modern Warfare 2, MS hyped up all of these as being better and almost only for 360.

Now, they are doing the same thing with Project Natal. MS are claiming it to be an industry first, the greatest innovation in video gaming. I almost lost it at my monitor when I heard this crap coming from their mouths. Especially the Forza crap about it having the largest number of cars on a current gen console, or the most realistic physics.

Sorry, I won't get into that now, but I have learnt that one thing MS are good at is marketing their crappy ripoff products. And the sad thing is, a lot of people are buying it. The success of the 360 is the perfect sample study of how ignorant and easily swayed most gamers are when a company like Microsoft wave a shiny thing in front of them and yell out that its the greatest thing on earth. People who don't read up on this shiny thing often go along with the hype and blindly defend it as being the shiniest thing around. This is what maddens me, and why I refuse to buy any multiplat game on a 360. (I do have a 360 which I use for playing with my friends because my friends are all 360 supporters and blinded by the brilliance of Halo)

So, in relation to this article, I believe Natal will succeeed over the PSEye and its motion controllers simply because MS are more aggressive in their marketing. If lowering their standards and lying is the best method for MS to make money, then maybe Sony should consider lowering themselves to that level simply to set the record straight, that they came up with the idea first, that their camera is cheaper, that their technology is better than the Wii and will cater to the hardcore market with better games.

Please Sony, please be more aggressive in your marketing. Don'y let MS win with their lies to the public who are blinded by them. You are the industry leader!!! You have the superior product!!! Let the world know this!!! Price isn't everything!!! Its what you get for that price that matters most!!!

Who here agrees or disagrees with any of my opinions? Would like to hear from you.

Last edited by Dancemachine55 on 7/17/2009 9:47:26 AM

5 up, 0 down

JMO_INDY
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 10:03:15 AM

Agreed, the PS3 is priced competively, very competively. Its the superior product. Hence the higher Price.

1 up, 0 down

JMO_INDY
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 10:23:12 AM

Its like comparing caviar to tuna,the caviar tastes better and higher quality so it gets a higher price, the tuna is lower quality so it gets the lower price. I wonder how the PS3 tastes? hold on..*goes and licks the PS3* it tastes like plastic,not bad, now the 360, hold on...*goes and licks the 360* YUK!!! Dust tastes nasty! lmfao. haha (btw the PS3 is the caviar, and the 360 is the tuna. and hey, they match colors too.

Last edited by JMO_INDY on 7/17/2009 10:24:54 AM

1 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 2:58:02 PM

I never advocate descending to the level of the unethical opponent. If Sony descends to Microsoft's level, then what good are Sony any more?

4 up, 0 down

Dancemachine55
Saturday, July 18, 2009 @ 4:21:45 AM

I'm only suggesting that Sony be more aggressive with their marketing and make more claims (based on truth BTW) about how they are superior to the competition, not just at E3 which is watched by gaming enthusiasts.

In no way do I want Sony to sink to the level of lies that MS bases its marketing and claims on, but I want them to be much more aggressive than 360. There has definitely been improvement with the whole EA Sports franchise being advertised for PS3, one example of how they are becoming more aggressive, along with advertising Infamous in cinemas for big film releases like Terminator and Transformers.

0 up, 0 down

GlavinChris
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 11:10:43 AM
Reply

I hate this whole comparison issue... PS3 > X360, X360 > PS3.

It truly is speculation, some people like different games better than others. The PSeye has the hardware to do what natal did all along, now they are both coming out with software that would work.

My question is, how will this actually impact the games? Games that need a pseye to play have been slow in comparison because both the game and the eye need to be purchased.

Then move onto the factor where if a big time publisher actually puts lots of money towards a game that is on the PSeye (and creates a AAA game) do people really want to have to hold a gun for hours on end while playing a shooter? (please note that Wii shooters have historically done bad)

-The Glavin

0 up, 0 down

Radiitz
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 11:19:22 AM
Reply

Eye Pet can be good for people without pets. Milo can be good for people without friends :D

Though I do wish Sony would pay more attention to their PS eye, and advertise more. Now 360 fanbitches wil start bragging that Sony copied Natal.

4 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 2:59:18 PM

LOL, yes, I can see it now. Especially the incandescent rage when someone shows the Xbox fan that the PS2 could do a lot of what Natal claims as new.

2 up, 0 down

kevinater321
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 5:09:04 PM
Reply

Sounds like that could shut up the 360. But you never know, there mouths are always moving and we don't really have any software to prove this statement true. So if we go around stating the ps eye can do most of the things natal does then they will call us liers. son't needs to market this, why is it this is the first time i am hearing of this? because sony didn't make it know. But it could also be there strategy, put out some products, get microsoft to make a similar product and claim that it is better and then have sony come out from behind them saying that they could do these things for a wile now.

0 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Friday, July 17, 2009 @ 11:32:11 PM
Reply

Would'nt it be great if Sony's hiding an ace-in the-hole right up their sleeve???

Knowing how innovate Sony is and how they like to stay way ahead of the curve, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony already has some kind of voice recognition hardware already inside the PSEye.

And only once we've gotten the right game tailored just for it, Sony will activate it's "voice recognition" with just a firmware update.

0 up, 0 down

xnonsuchx
Saturday, July 18, 2009 @ 1:53:50 AM
Reply

Technically, ANY camera has the capability (to pass images to image recognition SOFTWARE).

0 up, 0 down

Effi
Saturday, July 18, 2009 @ 5:55:18 PM
Reply

all sony needs is a full game that fully utilizes the eyetoy... and works well.

and of course the game must come bundled with and without the eyetoy camera

and that will be the end of Natal's hype.

0 up, 0 down

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