Canesta shows off gesture controls for TV, PCs, games and more
Ever since the Nintendo Wii took the video game market by storm with its motion-sensing controller, next-generation user interfaces have become a big attraction. Canesta is one of the companies trying to upstage the Wii with a 3-D vision system.
The webcam-like camera lets you control your PC, TV, games and other things with natural hand gestures rather than a controller or remote control. The camera detects your movements and then calculates exactly where you are…. Continue Reading
The top 12 trends of the video game industry
It’s good to step back and get a good look at the various cross-currents in the games landscape. Over the last few weeks I’ve been surrounded by game developers at the Login online games conference in Seattle and the Quo Vadis game developers event in Berlin, both events where I was invited to speak, and have seen several trends emerging — some good, some bad. Here they are:
1. Game startup financings have slowed from last year. Everyone… Continue Reading
Canesta scores its 37th U.S. patent for gesture-control technology
Maybe I’m paranoid, but I can smell a legal battle coming in gesture control for TVs, computers, game consoles and other gadgets.
Maybe it’s because Canesta is soon to announce its 37th patent. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal, but innovations in user-interfaces are hot right now. Also, user interfaces for smartphones have already sparked legal disputes between Apple and Palm. Basically, Palm is using multi-touch screens — which Apple says it patented — for… Continue Reading
CES overview: trends for this year’s technology
I’ve talked about the regrettable 3-D TV trend at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in a separate post. But I spotted some other trends among the 2,700 exhibitors at the show as well.
Gesture control and multi-touch screens: Part and parcel of good industrial hardware design is a good user interface to go with it. Now, the mouse, keyboard, and remote control are about to give way to touch-based user interfaces or gesture… Continue Reading
CES: Does the future of TV lie in gesture-based control?
Gesture recognition is one of the most exciting new technologies at the International Consumer Electronics Show this week. A variety of companies — inspired by the Nintendo Wii’s gesture control and the iPhone’s multi-touch screen — developing new ways to interact with gadgets. Hand, arm or finger gestures — like waving your arms around in circles to make something happen on the screen — are being used in everything from phones to game consoles.
TV is… Continue Reading
Canesta teams up with Hitachi to create a Wii-like next-generation TV control
Canesta is announcing today it has teamed up with Hitachi to create a next-generation user interface for a TV that is similar to the way arm-waving controls the Nintendo Wii video game console.
Hitachi will use San Jose, Calif.-based Canesta’s 3-D sensor chip to power the first gesture-controlled TV set. The companies are showing a prototype today at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Hand-waving controls haven’t had the best history. Sony used a two-dimensional… Continue Reading
3DV fleshes out gesture-based gaming plans, hires North American chief
Inspired by the Nintendo Wii’s clever wand-like game controller, gesture-recognition start-ups are coming out of the woodwork. Israel’s 3DV Systems is one of the contenders and it is showing more of its cards.
The Yokne’am, Israel company said it plans to launch a low-cost gesture-recognition camera for game purposes in 2009. And it has hired a well-known video game veteran as its general manager for the North American market. Charles Bellfield, the new hire, has worked… Continue Reading
3-D sensor Co., Canesta, gets $5M from Honda
Canesta, the Sunnyvale company that has developed a 3-D sensor, has raised $5 million from Honda over the past five years to make a product for the automotive industry.
Canesta originally tried to make a virtual keyboard — to let you type in the air on the table by detecting how your fingers moved on a keyboard image beamed from a mobile device. Its 3-D chip-set followed your finger strokes. We tried it out at the… Continue Reading