"Beyond audio/video chat and the ability to save videos to your PS3 hard drive, PlayStation Eye opens up a whole new world of entertainment options and adds a new dimensions to games across multiple genres", said Richard Marks of research and development at Sony Computer Entertainment America.
PLAYSTATION Eye will be released in 2007, but no solid date is confirmed yet. The new eye will include 4 noise cancelling microphones in addition to the 640*480 pixels Camera. The noise cancelling feature means that players won't need a headset. The camera itself can capture 60 fps at 640*480 resolution or 120 fps at 320*240m, even in low-light conditions.
PLAYSTATION Eye arrives later this year bundled with EyeCreate, a software package for use with PS3 that lets you create your very own entertainment. Save and edit photos, video and audio clips direct to your PS3 and indulge your creative spirit by applying eye-catching visual effects or using one of the special capturing modes, including slow motion and time-lapse. Alternatively, use EyeCreate's editing suite to turn your media into professional looking movies.
Playstation Eye is intended mainly for video chat, but several games will utilize it. The first game to take advantage of the camera is Playstation Network title Snake Run, followed by several titles such as Eye of Judgement, Ember, Skyblue and Aqua Vit.
PlayStation Eye technical specs:
4 channel audio input:16 bits/channel, 48kHz, SNR 90db
56 to 75 degrees Field of View zoom lens
640 x 480 at 60 frames/second
320 x 240 at 120 frames/second
USB2 high-speed data transfer
Uncompressed video or optional JPEG compression
