Canesta Shows How 3-D Vision Technology Enables Natural Interfaces "Beyond Multi-Touch"

Attendees of the "D" Conference will See the "User as the Remote", as Computers,
TVs, Media Centers and Other Everyday Devices Gain New Means to Interact with Us
CARLSBAD, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
3-D Sensor chip leader Canesta, with co-developers Hitachi and GestureTek, is
demonstrating this week how our televisions, media centers, and computers can
offer us a new dimension in interaction with natural interfaces that go beyond
multi-touch, when enabled by the company`s low-cost, 3-D vision technology,
assisted by appropriate, application-specific middleware.

The demo utilizes a prototype gesture-controlled television system jointly
developed by Hitachi and Canesta, with software contributions by Hitachi and
GestureTek. On stage at the Wall Street Journal`s celebrated D: All Things
Digital conference in Carlsbad, CA, Canesta - accompanied by its co-developers -
will show attendees how a user can control key features of the set, as well as
navigate onscreen menus, with natural hand gestures from across the room. No
touchscreen, remote, wireless controller, or other physical device is required;
the user is the remote.

The capability comes from giving devices such as the Hitachi TV the ability to
"see" in three dimensions and in real time. For this purpose, Canesta has
developed a low-cost, 3-D "camera" chip that lends itself to being integrated
into media centers, televisions, PCs - or just about any other device - as
easily as conventional video camera chips are today.

The single CMOS sensor chip outputs a continuous stream of 3-D "frames" that
contain depth maps - the distance to resolvable features in view of the sensor -
that can be interpreted by software as gestures, obstacles, faces, individuals -
depending upon the application. And one important application is providing input
to everyday devices - our PCs, TVs, media centers, or even "smart" home nodes -
from a distance, without the need for touching anything. In other words: "with
the wave of a hand."

"Once a device can see reliably in three dimensions, natural interfaces that
work by interpreting human behavior become possible," says Jim Spare, Canesta
president and CEO. "An application goes from being reactive to the touch of a
keyboard, mouse, or multi-touch surface to proactively observing its local
environment." This offers creative OEMs a wealth of opportunities to
differentiate their future products, he believes, and one has only to look at
Apple`s iPhone to see the business model.

"In the same way that multi-touch on the iPhone made it simpler and more fun for
users to access their device`s capabilities, we believe gestural interfaces have
the potential to provide a dramatically improved user experience for other
applications - particularly those that involve choosing how to be entertained,
selecting among content, or controlling one`s home or local environment," he
says.

But gesture control may be just the tip of the iceberg, some experts believe.

"A robust, low-cost 3-D discrimination capability as only Canesta has been able
to deliver will spur new levels of functionality," forecasts Tim Bajarin of
Creative Strategies, Inc. "I can imagine applications in media delivery,
computing, immersive role playing, security, robotics, medical, and automotive -
to name a few - that will become technically and commercially feasible -
particularly at consumer price levels - when you can deliver a continuous stream
of 3-D data for a small bill-of-materials cost. Today`s demonstration is just
the beginning."

And although one cannot underrate the importance of application software, and
middleware that can turn raw 3-D "feeds" into interpretable events, the common
denominator in most, if not all of these applications will likely be Canesta`s
low-cost, CMOS-based 3-D sensor technology, predicts Spare.

"Canesta is already the technology leader in the field, with over 50 filed and
40 granted patents, and makes the only 3-D sensor that operates from absolute
darkness to bright sunlight, with complete indifference to confusing
backgrounds," he explains. "And our technology platform, CMOS, is highly
preferred by OEM chip customers for its wide availability and low cost." Spare
believes that the company is in an enviable position, and Bajarin concurs.

"Canesta`s enabling technology may be the catalyst that fundamentally changes
the relationship between our devices and us," predicts Bajarin, "As we are
seeing today, Canesta has already enabled interfaces that go beyond multi-touch,
which itself is still largely unexplored. It will be interesting to see how the
various OEM`s now scramble to apply 3-D sensing to gain competitive advantages
over one another."

The Wall Street Journal`s D Conference - brainchild of digital omnivores Walt
Mossberg and Kara Swisher - attracts the top players in, and observers of,
digital technology from around the world for a 3-day conversation about "All
Things Digital". Now in its seventh year, it is considered to be the most
prestigious and influential gathering of its kind.

For additional information about this story, please see Canesta`s Press
Questions & Answers at
Canesta-Demonstrates-Natural-3D-Interface-At-D-Q-and-A.html.

About Canesta

Canesta is the inventor of revolutionary, low-cost electronic perception
technology that enables ordinary electronic devices in consumer, security,
industrial, medical, automotive, factory automation, entertainment, military,
and many other applications, to perceive and react to objects or individuals in
real time. When given true, fine-grained 3-dimensional depth perception with
Canesta's unique CanestaVision electronic perception chips and software, such
products can gain functionality and ease of use not possible in an era when such
devices were blind.

Numerous applications are under active development by Canesta`s OEM customers
and partners, including building automation, security, robotics, automotive, and
others.

Canesta was founded in April 1999, and is located in San Jose, CA. The company
has 40 granted patents and counts multiple Fortune 100 companies as its
customers.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are those of their respective
companies. The omission of a trademark or registered trademark symbol is
inadvertent and is not intended to convey the status of any mark or contravene
any claim.

Additional background information is available at www.roeder-johnson.com.

Roeder-Johnson Corporation
Paul Michelson or Abigail Johnson, 650-802-1850
http://email.roeder-johnson.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009