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CANESTA, INC.
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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – PC FORUM – MARCH 25, 2002 – In an announcement that could have impact in a wide number of products and markets over the long term, Silicon Valley startup Canesta, Inc. today introduced the world’s first "electronic perception" technology. Electronic perception technology is a unique, ultra-low-cost, real-time 3-D imaging capability that will enable machines and electronic devices to perceive nearby objects and their movements in three dimensions. For the first time, a wide range of products – from cell phones, PDAs or video games, to automobiles, security systems, and medical instrumentation – will ultimately be able to react to and interact with individuals and the nearby environment in real time, through the medium of sight.
The heart of Canesta's technology, as revealed in a recently issued U.S. patent, is a small, moving-image sensor and software that "sees" the environment in three-dimensional contours, rather than the flat, two-dimensional images historically provided by video camera chips. A "smarter" cousin of those video chips, which are now commonplace even in consumer-oriented products, Canesta's 3-D sensors can be used by manufacturers to economically "sight-enable" even the most modestly-priced consumer or industrial appliance. Additionally, because the sensors provide well over fifty 3-D "frames" per second, applications can track even subtle movements and positions of nearby objects in real time.
According to Kevin Werbach, editor of the technology report *Release 1.0* and co-organizer of PC Forum, the applications for electronic perception technology are widespread. "Humans routinely navigate through the world, interact with one another, avoid dangers, and take stock of our environment – all through sight. Giving machines such perceptual capabilities would make possible a whole new class of devices and products. The possibilities are vast."
The technologists at Canesta agree. According to Nazim Kareemi, Canesta's president and CEO, the company sees, over the long run, broad application of electronic perception in three principal categories – navigation through the environment, identification and cataloging, and human-computer interfaces.
"Navigation applications are those where electronic perception technology enables a machine or its operator to navigate more accurately, easily or safely through its surroundings, such as a car that warns of a potentially dangerous lane change," said Kareemi. By contrast, he said, identification and cataloging applications are those in which a machine or electronic device constantly assesses the nearby environment, identifying features, objects or changes. "A useful application might be a low cost baby room monitor that could raise an alarm if a child begins to exit a pre-defined area, such as the playpen." Other applications in this category might include building and airport security, law enforcement, or medical diagnosis.
In the human-computer interface, Kareemi imagines two teenagers in the family room playing a video game that senses their body and hand movements, relying on electronic perception rather than mechanical controllers for input. These are a class of "virtual" input devices that include virtual keyboards and gestural control of consumer electronics, two areas where Canesta has done significant research and development since its founding.
"It is the ability to sense the nearby world as three-dimensional contours, rather than as flat images, that makes such unrelated but intriguing applications ultimately possible," he said.
In a manner similar to RADAR, where the range to a remote object is calculated by timing how long it takes for an electronic burst of radio waves to echo back from that object, the chips described in Canesta's patent time a burst of sub-visual light reflecting off of each feature in the image. The image and distance information is then handed off to an on-chip processor running Canesta's proprietary imaging software that further refines the 3-D representation before sending it off chip for application-specific processing. The chips do this repeatedly, generating over 50 frames of 3-D information per second.
Since Canesta's software starts with a three-dimensional, "contour-map" view of the world, provided directly by the hardware, it has a substantial advantage over classical image processing software that struggles to construct three-dimensional representations using complex mathematics, and using images from multiple cameras or points of view. This significant reduction in complexity makes it possible to embed the application-independent processing software directly into the chips themselves so they may be used in the most modestly-priced, and even pocket-sized, electronic devices.
Said David Kelley, founder and chairman of Palo Alto, CA-based IDEO, the world's leading innovation and design consultancy, "It is extremely exciting to consider the possible applications of this technology. It has been our experience that real innovation often starts with a technological leap that is both affordable and robust."
Canesta has already seen a significant interest in its electronic perception technology amongst OEMs, particularly those that desire virtual, or sight-based input for personal electronics, such as cell phones or PDAs. In the long run, as the technology matures and as Canesta offers additional variants, electronic perception technology is expected to have broad appeal, particularly among manufacturers eager to explore applications where reacting in real time to nearby people or the environment can add significant convenience or functionality.
Canesta is readying subsets of its technology for incorporation this year by OEMs in the personal electronics area, in the form of application-specific sensor chips, interface software and support services. More detailed information about specific chips, software, and applications focus will be made available later in the year as specific product packages are announced.
Canesta is the inventor of a revolutionary, low-cost electronic perception technology that enables ordinary electronic devices to perceive and react to nearby objects or individuals in real time.
When sight-enabled with Canesta's unique electronic perception chips and software that sense the environment as 3-dimensional moving images, consumer, automotive, industrial, and medical products will gain functionality and ease of use not possible in an era when electronics were blind.
Canesta was founded in April, 1999, and is located in San Jose, CA. The company has filed or has been granted in excess of 20 patents. Investment to date exceeds $20 million, from Carlyle Venture Partners, Apax Partners (formerly Patricof & Co Ventures, Inc.), JP Morgan Partners (formerly Chase Capital Partners), TechFund Capital, and Thales Corporate Ventures (formerly Thomson-CSF Ventures.) Canesta has over 35 employees. Canesta's Web site: www.canesta.com
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