3D Chip Company Creates Gesture Video Interface

I looked at this company, Canesta, and a competing company, 3DV, a few years back. (3DV was recently acquired by Microsoft.) Both companies use special 3D sensors to cleanly and perfectly track objects that are relatively close by. Unlike conventional video analytics that must use computationally expensive algorithms to track and extract objects from video feeds, these companies use rays of light to directly measure those object. The result is pretty cool. Here is what that looks like:



Canesta recently released the following demonstration of their technology tied into what looks like the user interface from Cooliris:



Microsoft also announced its own gesture control system called Project Natal at E3. The interface is no doubt based on the new technology they acquired from 3DV.

So, why am I writing about this here? Well, the mass production of these kinds of 3D sensors holds significant potential to shape and change the biometrics and video analytics industries as we know them. For instance, complicated algorithms designed to extract and identify faces from video might not be needed if the camera chip itself was already producing perfectly accurate measurements of the faces crossing it’s path. Similarly, 3D video cameras might obviate the need for expensive video analytic software.

For now, however, there is a problem with that prediction. The range of these sensors is just not quite long enough to be used in any kind of surveillance context. Today, one really needs to be standing quite close for the 3D analysis to work.

But, like all things in the world of technology...that will change.