E3 2010: Sony explains the changing colours on the PS Move ball

Why does the ball change colour on the PS Move controller? Sony explains all at E3...
Why does the ball change colour on the PS Move controller? Sony explains all at E3...

Speaking at E3 this week, the creator of the Sony PlayStation EyeToy and one of the PlayStation company's senior researchers explained why the ball on the end of the PlayStation Move controller changed colour so much.

PlayStation Move's colourful light "ball" is "crucial" for making the device work, EyeToy creator and SCE senior researcher, Richard Marks informed CVG at E3.

Colour perpeption is key

Marks revealed more about the technology inside the PlayStation Move that Sony's hopes will convince gamers and games developers that it is so accurate.

"It [the ball] is really, really crucial," Marks said. "It's crucial for many reasons because it's like a marker. We know exactly where it is. It's a light so it's really easy to find it and it can change colour.

"So for example if you happen to have a bright pink wall behind you it'll change colour so it can be tracked better," he explained.

"The PlayStation Eye looks at all the pixels," Marks continued. "It says 'Oh, there's a bunch of magenta pixels - don't use that colour, use a different one', and it picks a colour that won't conflict.

"We have full control over the light - there are 360 different hues it can track."

Check out TechRadar's full run-down of all the PS Move titles announced at E3 2010, along with our highlights of Sony's E3 conference.

Via CVG

Adam Hartley