Primesense sensor technology

According to the manufacturer’s website, the sensor technology can be placed in a bar much like Nintendo’s sensor or integrated in a host device directly via a USB 2.0 plug and play connection. The bar integrates an IR light source and common CMOS image sensor as well as Primesense’s PS1080 system on a chip (SoC) to process and interpret captured 3D data.

What makes the sensor special is that the technology captures 3D or depth via light coding. According to Primesense, light coding works by coding the scene volume with near-IR light. “A standard off-the-shelf CMOS image sensor [is used] to read the coded light back from the scene,” the manufacturer explains. “PrimeSense’s SoC chip is connected to the CMOS image sensor, and executes a sophisticated parallel computational algorithm to decipher the received light coding and produce a depth image of the scene. The solution is immune to ambient light.”

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In a real life scenario, the sensor technology will capture images in a 640×480 pixel resolution and will be able to differentiate and capture objects with a spatial horizontal resolution of 3mm (0.01”). The depth resolution will is able to differentiate objects in 1 cm (0.4”) increments. The image output is 60 fps. If there is any concern about how the system might be limiting game control, then it is clearly its range. Primsesense says the user will have to be in a range of 0.8m to 3.5m (2.4ft to 10ft) to the sensor. In multiplayer scenarios and large family rooms with big screen TVs, this might turn into a problem, as greater ranges might be required.

Microsoft is expected to unveil Project Natal at E3 in June and begin selling the device in time for the Christmas season.