No huge sums have been leaked to the press yet, but the Friday announcement by Microsoft has all but guaranteed the purchase.
Canesta is a small Silicon Valley firm specializing in gesture recognition technology and chips that allow cameras to produce 3D images. It currently holds 44 patents for its products, with more coming. Some journalists have commented that the acquisition of Canesta is a move that will best serve Microsoft’s future ventures in motion sensitivity.
Canesta also has a good track record, with Honda and Quanta Computer among its biggest investors. The variety of product and industrial applications—from cars to laptop cameras—makes Canesta ideal for whatever plans Microsoft has for burgeoning motion sensor technology that’s at the core of its upcoming Kinect add-on gaming console.
With this latest buy, Microsoft seems to be leapfrogging the competition a year since it acquired 3DV Systems by cornering gesture recognition tech. Since it currently does business with Prime Sense, a Canesta rival, this assumption does have some merit.
If gesture technology is indeed the future of computing, then Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has already given orders for full steam ahead in as many words: “I’m excited to be way out in front and want to push the pedal on that.”
Via Slashgear
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