GDC 2011: SCEA Offering PS Move App To Researchers, Academics

Sony Computer Entertainment America announced Move.Me, a new app designed to allow academics, researchers, students, and hobbyists to create new kinds of software with the PlayStation Move motion controller. Coming to PSN this spring, Move.Me takes advantage of the PS Move's internal motion sensors and PS Eye camera tracking, allowing developers to export that data to Windows or Linux-based PCs (tablets and smartphones can also receive the data when connected to a PS3) and create applications based on that information. Offering potential uses for the app, SCEA says Move.Me could be used by medical researchers to prototype rehabilitation applications for patients undergoing physical therapy, or by lead game design students to "develop new creative concepts for gaming within the areas of 3D modeling, motion capture, and augmented reality". SCEA intends to support Move.Me with sample code, user documentation, and corporate material rom SCE Research and Development. The app will not require a PS3 system SDK or licensing agreement. Additional information about Move.Me is available on the company's site. "PlayStation Move's camera-plus-controller combination allows for the most precise and immersive gaming experiences," says SCEA Developer Support's senior engineer John McCutchan, senior engineer, SCEA Developer Support. He adds, "Now we're formally taking that advanced technology, which was almost ten years in the making, and offering it to innovators outside of our traditional game development community so they can create their own applications to impact the world in exciting new ways."