Sony demos new head tracking system for PS3 at GDC 2008

It looks like the Wii Minority Report technology creator Johnny Lee now has a rival. In a demo featured during the GDC 2008, Sony showcased its new head tracking system, which did away with all the extra peripherals like infrared gloves, and utilized a stock PlayStation Eye camera to track a person’s movements. You can watch the demo by reading the full article.

It looks like the Wii motion tracking technology first popularized by Johnny Lee now has some competition in the form of the Sony PlayStation 3’s own head tracking system. The biggest difference between the PS3’s technology and the Wii’s is that all the PS3 needs is the stock PlayStation Eye camera for it to work.

The video below shows a demo taken during the Game Developers Conference 2008 of how Sony’s head tracking system was able to make a more streamlined version of Johnny Lee’s concept. Doing away with any extra peripherals like infrared gloves, the PlayStation Eye does a commendable job of tracking a person’s movements with the head tracking VR desktop application featured.

This opens the question whether or not Sony will be integrating this system with any games in the near future. This could even possibly turn into a whole new gaming genre altogether. While Sony is still deciding what to make of this new technology, we’ll all have to be content with watching the head tracking demo in action below.