Sony Playstation also gets business application

It looks like Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing gadget won't be the only gaming accessory on the block with a potential business application. A game developer for Sony's PlayStation has adapted the PlayStation Move accessory to turn gestures into commands such as launching a website or closing a program. In his blog, Jacob Pennock uploaded a video demo where he used the "PlayStation Move" motion-sensing game controller to open his Facebook page on a browser by "drawing" an "f" on the screen. Pennock used a computer running the Linux operating system to use the PlayStation Move. He also used Sony's Move.Me, a software server application for the PS3 system that uses the PlayStation Move as an input device. "We want to see what innovative applications programmers can create using the PS Move controller, the PS3™ system, the PlayStation®Eye camera, and a PC," Sony said in its Move.Me site. Sony said Move.me is designed for academic researchers, university instructors, college students, programming hobbyists, and HCI developers. It wants developers to come up with applications such as:

• Games and tools that support kids' physical fitness and nutrition.
• Kid-friendly programming interfaces for computer/technology classes or individual learning.
• Physical therapy and rehabilitation.
• Sports physiology or fitness training.
• Music and the creative arts.

Earlier, Microsoft's Kinect motion-sensing accessory had gained attention for potential applications outside the living room. A European firm had released software that allows a user to control a PC running Microsoft's Windows 7 through simple gestures up to four meters from the screen. Another software company allows one to create "mind-boggling presentations that you can control moving your hands in the air." Also, a group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hacked the Kinect to "enhance" distance-based Internet communication. — TJD, GMA News