Applications of Computing in Industry : Lecture

This talk will focus around the technology we developed for EyePet. There will time for a few demonstrations and videos but I will present:

A quick introduction to camera based gaming

• PSEye and its features
• Simple motion detection
• What is augmented reality

Technology in EyePet

• Marker based tracking
• Fur simulation and rendering
• Skin rendering
• Drawing capture
• Animation state machines
• Teaching your pet to sing
• Face detection
• PSEye cameras in the field

Technology in EyePet Move Edition

• Adding Move support
• Adding 3D support

Technology in EyePet PSP

• Issues bringing EyePet PS3 to PSP

Technology out takes -

• Speech recognition
• pet == you.

To Infinity and beyond

• What we could do next.

Mark has loved playing and developing technology for games as far back as 1980 when he managed to convince his parents to buy him a 16K ZX Spectrum as a Christmas present. Since then there has hardly been a moment when he hasn..t either been writing games, thinking about them or playing them. Little did his parents know that that a rubber keyboard would help set direction for his career. Whether it was paint programs on the Spectrum, 3D stereograms and LEGO steering wheels on the Amiga or physics simulations on the PC, Mark has always had a passion for developing technology.

Mark graduated in 1995 from Imperial College with a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering after which he soon found himself developing Virtual Reality simulators for British Aerospace. It was during this time that he found a real passion for computer graphics which eventually lead him into the games industry in 1997.

Mark worked for a number of independent developers as a graphics engine developer across several platforms and he eventually found his way to SCEE (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) in 2003 developing technology for the EyeToy group. Over the past 7 years he has been involved in over 20 releases spanning across the PS2, PSP and PS3 with SCEE. During this period Mark was instrumental in establishing and eventually managing the EyeToy Core Technology group. He oversaw their migration to the London Studio Game Technology Team where they now provide a core technology SDK for most of the titles developed in the London Studio and more recently in the Cambridge Studio.

More recently Mark has taken on the role of Technical Director for the EyeToy group where he is now managing and directing both software and hardware technology for several internal teams and a number of external development studios.

When he..s not jetting about over the world visiting external teams or developing new technology for SCEE Mark enjoys spending time with his 2 young children. He is still an avid game player but now enjoys playing with his children as well.