E3: Sony Takes Live-streaming to the Next Level with The Playroom Set Maker

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 11, 2014 | 2 comments
Sohrab Osati

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If there is one thing to be said about Sony and the PS4, it’s that they’ve been on the pulse of this generation of gamers. Making ‘Share’ a standard button on the Dualshock 4 controller, the PS4 has been able to live stream to Twitch and Ustream viewers from launch with YouTube support coming later this summer. Besides giving gamers the opportunity to stream their games, Sony also included The Playroom, a free mini game that allows you to interact with a VR robot named Asobi thanks to the PlayStation Eye. What makes this game/app unique isn’t its short and silly games, but that it gives everyday gamers a platform to broadcast from without having to have the content be directly a game. Looking for an easy way to broadcast yourself out there and interact with viewers via a live chat? Nothing could be easier than The Playroom.

Now, Sony is taking broadcasting and streaming to the next level with The Playroom Set Maker.

Interested? Let’s talk about all the new additions in The Playroom Set Maker after the jump.

The Playroom Set Maker basically allows you to turn your office or living room into a broadcast center. Once the new DLC is released, a companion app will also make its debut on iOS and Android smartphone tablets/smartphones that allows you to create virtual banners and holographic billboards. Good news for PlayStation Vita owners as the companion app will also be released on the powerful portable. Importing content into your broadcast is as simple as having them stored on your mobile device.

The_Playroom_Set_Maker_BeamThat’s because the companion app allows you to import photos directly from your device into the live broadcast while Sony will also include a healthy amount of pre-loaded clip art. If neither of those satisfy your vision then there’s still hope as you can also draw them on screen from scratch. Other goodies you can expect include face masks (thanks to the PlayStation Camera’s facial tracking technology), on-screen texts, billboards, and different background and sound effects. With Set Maker, you can even stream various special effects like smoke, lasers, and balloons to name a few. All which, by the way, are interactive.

While all of this will make for a much more visual experience, Sony is also expanding interactivity with The Playroom Set Maker. To that end, the new DLC will include live polls which allow viewers to interact live during your broadcast. This can be seen briefly in the above video.

While live streaming was previously limited to those who had the technical know-how or right equipment, now anybody with a PS4 and PlayStation Camera can host a full production broadcast. The Playroom Set Maker is expected to launch in late Summer and bring dramatic changes to Twitch and Ustream broadcasts.

Discuss:

Do you like the new additions to The Playroom?

[Via PlayStation]