Difference Between Eyetoy and Kinect

Many consoles are now starting to move away from typical controllers and are experimenting on other types of control mechanisms. The Eyetoy and Kinect are two examples of control systems that do away with handheld controllers. The main difference between the two is with what console they work with. The Eyetoy is for the Playstation 2 while the Kinect is for the Xbox 360. There is also a huge gap when it comes to the technologies as you would find out later as the Kinect is a lot more complex compared to the Eyetoy; which is basically a webcam with a built-in mic.

The first major difference between the two is the depth sensor inside the Kinect. This allows the Kinect to detect how far away you are and whether you are moving towards or away. This, added to the RGB camera that both have, provides the Kinect with more gestures to link controls to.

Aside from the cameras, the Kinect also has an array of 4 microphones compared to only one on the Eyetoy. Multiple microphones allow the Kinect to analyze incoming audio and figure out and filter noise; a feature that is commonly referred to as noise cancellation or suppression. Another advantage is it allows the Kinect to calculate from which direction the voice is coming from. On the software side, the Kinect is also capable of voice recognition that aids in identifying which player is speaking. Something that is quite handy as the Kinect can track multiple players at once.

Lastly, the Kinect is motorized while the Eyetoy is not. With the Eyetoy, you need to set it up or move yourself to make sure that you are in frame whenever you play. Not really much of an issue with the Kinect as it would try to find you by moving its head and judging from its other sensors. The voice location is quite handy here as it can provide direction to the Kinect on where to look.

Summary:

1. The Eyetoy is for the Playstation 2 while the Kinect is for the Xbox 360
2. The Eyetoy is much simpler than the Kinect
3. The Eyetoy does not have the ability to perceive depth while Kinect does
4. The Eyetoy does not have noise suppression voice location  while the Kinect does
5. The Eyetoy cannot recognize voices while the Kinect can
6. The Eyetoy is pretty much fixed while the Kinect moves to track