PlayStation Eye

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Platform: PlayStation 3
Interface: USB 2.0
Connector: USB Type-A plug
Resolution: 640x480@60Hz; 320x240@120Hz

Overview:
The PlayStation Eye (trademarked PLAYSTATION Eye) is a digital camera device for the PlayStation 3 video game console, and the successor to the EyeToy for the PlayStation 2 . It is scheduled for release in Summer 2007 in America and Europe, reportedly to coincide with the release of compatible title SingStar. In Japan, the peripheral will be bundled with The Eye of Judgment, scheduled for release in Fall 2007. While no price has been announced for the PlayStation Eye, EyeToy designer Dr. Richard Marks stated that the EyeToy was used as a model for the rough cost design.

Camera:
PlayStation Eye is capable of capturing standard video with high frame rates of 60 hertz at a 640x480 pixel resolution, and 120 hertz at 320x240 pixels, which is "four times the resolution" and "two times the frame-rate" of the EyeToy, according to Sony.

The PlayStation Eye also has "two times the sensitivity" of the EyeToy, with Sony collaborating with sensor chip partner OmniVision Technologies on a sensor chip design using larger sensor pixels, allowing for more effective low-light operation. Sony states that the PlayStation Eye can produce "reasonable quality video" under the illumination provided by a television set.

The camera features a two-setting adjustable fixed focus zoom lens, with a 56-degree field of view setting similar to that of the EyeToy,, suited for close-up framing in chat applications; and 75-degree field of view setting suited for long shot framing in interactive physical gaming applications.

The PlayStation Eye is capable of outputting video to the console uncompressed, with "no compression artefacts"; or with optional JPEG compression.

Microphone:
The PlayStation Eye features a built-in four-capsule microphone array, with which the PlayStation 3 can employ technologies for multi-directional voice location tracking, echo cancellation, and background noise suppression; allowing the peripheral to be used for speech recognition and audio chat in noisy environments without the use of a headset. The PlayStation Eye microphone array operates with each channel processing 16-bit samples at a sampling rate of 48 kilohertz, and a signal-to-noise ratio of 90 decibels.

EyeCreate:
The PlayStation Eye also comes with EyeCreate editing software, which enables users to capture video and audio clips directly to the hard disk drive of the PS3 console with a variety of different capturing modes, including slow motion and time-lapse.

Video and audio files produced on the PlayStation 3 via the Eye are written in a proprietary format which is user-accessible only through EyeCreate; the files cannot be used on the Xross Media Bar, and thus cannot be exported. When questioned about support for other formats, Marks stated that "future formats are still being discussed."