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Special Interview Teiji Yutaka

Senior Vice President and Head of Software Solution Development
Sony Computer Entertainment

’Enter Virtual Space’:
The New Experience Created by PS3® Technology

3D image of a ball flying out of the screen would almost make you jump. You’d better dive for cover! Prepare to be amazed by PlayStation®Move, which integrates your physical movements into the action on screen! Sci-fi movie-like experience enabled by these two latest technological advances will provide various possibilities to gaming.
We spoke to Teiji Yutaka, SVP, Software Solution Development Department of Sony Computer Entertainment, who have worked on the software development for stereoscopic 3D and PlayStation®Move(PS Move) for the PlayStation®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system.
A New Gaming Experience through the combination of 3D visual expression and gaming
We first "saw" stereoscopic 3D in movies where we enjoyed tremendous immersion and excitement. With video games, you don’t only "see" it but you ’take part’ in the visual world through controlling the characters. By combining the excitement of game visual and story with immersive stereoscopic 3D images, what new kinds of enjoyment can we expect to experience?
We started work on making the PS3® system 3D compatible a couple of years back, when we first played conceptual stereoscopic 3D game on a 3D "BRAVIA" LCD TV prototype. All of us at the test felt as if we were entering inside the images, and we were astonished by the reality and creative potential of 3D, and thought "This kind of excitement and reality would engage people who’ve even never played video games or people who used to be gamers but don’t play much recently".
Immersive feeling is a key reason why people get into gaming and enjoy it so much. The immersion of gaming is the feeling of being a part of the virtual world inside the screen. You could call it entering into the virtual world of gaming. PlayStation® platform have already been providing immersive experiences using life-like 3DCG (Computer Graphics) and many kind of "experience" in the game.
"Experience" is a particularly important factor since it generates the enjoyment of gaming. Other forms of visual entertainment like movies or TV dramas offer a passive experience of ’watching.’ But with gaming, it’s not just watching but you will face rather active "experience" such as making decisions on various actions in the game. Let’s take "GRAN TURISMO 5", for example. That’s a racing game of ultimate driving entertainment experience with beautiful graphics and real actions. The experience of this game covers the choice of a car as well as a track, and the driving of the car of your choice. When you add more immersion with stereoscopic 3D to the enjoyment of this experience, there will be a great synergy effect, which generates great enjoyment with which even someone who doesn’t usually play games is going to get a great sense of being right in the middle of the action.
How to create a ’Natural-looking virtual world’ with stereoscopic 3D, and its attraction
People see different images with their left and right eyes. This is called binocular disparity. These two images with binocular disparity are combined in the brain to give us the sensations of depth and three dimensions. But how are stereoscopic 3D images for PS3® games made?

The 3D effect is created when the brain combines the slightly different images of the left and right eyes.

To create stereoscopic 3D images using the effect of binocular disparity, you need to show two images shot from slightly different angles on the screen. Taking 3D "BRAVIA" as an example, these two images are to be alternated at high speed, and shown to each eye using specially designed 3D glasses to get 3D effect. To create two sets of images, you need to use 3D compatible cameras that can record and recreate the effect of binocular disparity, and film two images simultaneously. In other words, it’s extremely difficult to make 3D images from live action footage that was already taken with conventional cameras.
On the other hand, in the case of video games, to construct a three-dimensional virtual world, you position characters, buildings and so on as if you were playing with a miniature scale garden set. By filming this virtual world from one direction, you firstly get a 2D image of it. To get stereoscopic 3D effect, you need to add another camera in the virtual world and capture images from two different viewpoints, just as right and left eyes would do. Since the virtual world and its characters are programmed to keep being renewed and to appear on the screen, adapting stereoscopic 3D to game is easier than to live action footage. And as we use 3D computer graphics to create games, it is relatively easy to make previously sold game titles stereoscopic 3D compatible only by changing the programs. Actually, there are already some moves to make past big hit titles stereoscopic 3D compatible.

’GRAN TURISMO 5’ for PS3® is stereoscopic 3D compatible.

©2010 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated imagery featured in this game in some cases include trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Any depiction or recreation of real world locations, entities, businesses, or organizations is not intended to be or imply any sponsorship or endorsement of this game by such party or parties.

3D computer graphics, which creates virtual space, is excellent with stereoscopic 3D games. If you play "GRAN TURISMO 5" in stereoscopic 3D, regardless of where you drive, either in the middle of the road or on the edge, you can get 3D image of everything around you, other competing cars and so on. Needless to say, huge amount of visual data will be required if you try to recreate all the images as a live action video. But in the case of stereoscopic 3D games, you can experience 360-degree virtual reality in 3D, which takes you much deeper inside the virtual world of gaming. This is something you can’t experience when you see a movie.
In using 3D, we’ve also learned from the expertise and know-how from "Sony 3D Technology Center", established in the Studio Lot of Sony Pictures Entertainment in the United States. We have learned practical know-how for instance; how we can create the most comfortable 3D, and what the optimal way of using 3D to create a natural world is, and so on. As game is high interactive, immersive, and it demands you to concentrate, it’s very important for stereoscopic 3D game to reproduce natural looking 3D.To enable players to enjoy stereoscopic 3D games, we should avoid overusing unnatural 3D images, such as excessive use of pop-up images, even though it is technically possible to create those images.

Above text is an English translation of an exclusive article for "My Sony Mail Magazine", issued by Sony Marketing (Japan) Inc.

  • * PlayStation, PS3, DUALSHOCK and Gran Turismo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
  • *1 Launch date varies according to country.
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