PlayStation 3 EyeToy in 3D?
Sony has filed a patent (no. 2006-178948) for a for a motion capture technology that could power the Eye Toy for PlayStation 3. It works by having the camera to recognize all objects and their movements, and thereafter translate the actions inside a game accordingly. That was pretty much how the original Eye Toy worked; however, the 2D image can now be rendered in 3D by using the new mapping technique. It will be possible to import your entire body into the game.
When a scene – a player holding one hand out towards the camera, say – is illuminated with an infrared flash, the games console can measure how long it takes the light to travel to the player’s body and be reflected back into the camera. This information is used to create a contour map of the player. Repeat the process 60 times a second and you have a 3D movie.