Microsoft, Sony introduce camera-based motion sensing technologies for game consoles

At the 2009 E3 conference, Microsoft presented a 3-D motion sensing camera for its Xbox 360 video game consoles. The system, code-named Project Natal, is intended to replace control pads and joysticks. It includes a camera and depth sensor to track body gestures and build depth maps. The camera system also includes face and voice recognition to track gamers in the living room.

A day after Microsoft introduced Project Natal, Sony demonstrated a controller with a glowing sphere at the end that a PlayStation Eye camera can track. The controller includes internal motion sensors that can track movements within 7mm accuracy.