Microsoft is acquiring Canesta, Inc., a developer of 3-D electronic perception technology for natural user interaction, gaming, and more.

Microsoft to Acquire 3-D Chip Firm Canesta
Michael Baron, TheStreet 10/29/10

Thanks to Harry Van Der Veen, of NUITEQ, for this link!

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The following video is from the Canesta3D YouTube channel. It demonstrates the 3D input sensor in action, with four people moving around in a living room. The chip used in the system depicted in the video was the precursor to the current chip, called the "Cobra 320x200".


Below is a demo of gesture interaction using Canesta3D technology to control and select information and content on a large display.  In my opinion, this will change the way we interact with our TV's, at least for those of us who hate using bad remotes!  Microsoft's acquisition of Canesta is good news, especially if they allow this technology to be used by the masses.   I'm pretty sure it has the capability of supporting  interaction with HD TV's are internet-ready, and can support GoogleTV, LeanBack, and Vimeo's Couch Mode.




Canesta Announces Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Microsoft
Press Rease, 10/29/10, Canesta

About Canesta (From the Canesta website)
"Canesta (www.canesta.com) is the inventor of revolutionary, low cost electronic perception technology and leading provider of single chip CMOS 3-D sensors that fundamentally change the relationship between devices and their users. This capability makes possible true 3-D perception as input to everyday devices, rather than the widely understood 3-D representational technologies as output. Canesta’s 3-D input technology, based upon tiny, CMOS 3-D imaging chips or “sensors”, enables fine-grained, 3-dimensional depth-perception in a wide range of applications. Products based on this capability can then react on sight to the actions or motions of individuals and objects in their field of view, gaining levels of functionality and ease of use that were simply not possible in an era when such devices were blind. Canesta’s focus is on mass market consumer electronics, but many applications exist in other markets as well. Canesta is located in Sunnyvale, CA. The company has filedin excess of fifty patents, 44 of which have been granted so far."


Canesta Corporate Fact Sheet (pdf)
Videos: http://canesta.com/applications/consumer-electronics/gesture-controls

I posted some videos about Canesta's technologies on the following post. There are two videos that show Canesta's 3D depth camera works on a Hitachi flat-panel display: Interactive Displays 2009 Conference

For more information about interactive TV, GoogleTV, Leanback and Couch Mode, see the second section of my recent post:
Philipp Geist: Blending the Physical with the Digital;  Google TV/Leanback, Vimeo's new Couch Mode, oh..and ViewSonic's 3D (glasses-less) pocket camcorder...