More in Microsoft's attempt to take over the world.
Posted: 30 Oct 2010, 14:37
Microsoft has acquired Canesta, the manufacturer of semiconductor chips capable of sensing movement and gestures in 3-D. The technology could be applied to everything from Windows 8 motion controls to its Xbox Kinect motion-sensing device.
Canesta, founded in 1999, specializes in the 3-D sensors that power “Natural User Interfaces.” A NUI doesn’t require inputs like a mouse or a keyboard for user to interact with a program or interface; it gets its commands from natural human gestures. While the fictional UI utilized in the 2002 film Minority Report is the best-known NUI in popular culture, Microsoft actually owns two popular ones: Microsoft Surface and Xbox Kinect.
http://mashable.com/2010/10/29/microsof ... s-canesta/
The more people let them, the more they will.
The really interesting part:
Today’s deal may be more about Canesta’s intellectual property than it is about bringing more natural user interfaces to Microsoft’s products. Canesta is the owner of 44 different patents on 3-D sensing technology, processing algorithms and chip design. Having those patents handy will be useful in avoiding lawsuits as Microsoft experiments with even more NUIs.
