Motorola invests in Anywhere Multitouch technology

By Joseph L. Flatley

posted December 3rd 2009 3:52PM

It's been awhile since we heard anything from Sensitive Objects, the French firm that developed Anywhere Multitouch, the platform that uses piezoelectric sensors to extend touch sensitivity beyond the display to the entire device. Well, we thought it was a pretty sweet idea -- and apparently Motorola did as well. According some spicy and exotic PR, Moto's investing some of its hard-earned cash in the company, which began as a project by the French Science National Research Center. As Reese Schroeder, managing director of Motorola Ventures, put it: "Natural user interface (NUI) and in particular interacting with a device through touch is an area of rapid development and great excitement. Sensitive Object provides an innovative and unique approach allowing new ways of interaction. We're most excited to be involved in their growth and success." One has to wonder what kind of new and innovative handset interfaces are coming around the bend -- and one has to wonder what kind of havoc it will cause when you put one of these "anywhere multitouch" phones in your pocket without locking it first. Luckily, the technology is said to be cheaper to implement than the other touchscreen solutions currently available -- so if these guys get their way, we might be accidentally calling our ex-girlfriends with the whole device very soon indeed. PR after the break.

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Motorola Invests in Sensitive Object

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. and PARIS, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced that Motorola Ventures, the company's strategic venture capital arm, made an investment in Sensitive Object, a leader in multi-touch anywhere platforms and natural user interface (NUI).

The company was created in October 2003 with an innovative and patent-protected technology capable of "tactilizing" any surface. This unique software technology leverages acoustics to analyze sound waves departing from the point of a touch to precisely and cost-effectively transform any product into a touch device. Sensitive Object's ReverSys(®) software can be deployed in any product benefiting from "touch-based" user interfaces including touch screen and touch control in various markets such as mobile devices.

Sensitive Object's Anywhere MultiTouch(TM) platform extends tactilization to any surface of a device allowing for virtual controls and next generation user-interfaces. As touch and haptics have become standard interaction expectations for personal computing and handheld devices, Sensitive Object demonstrates that acoustic (vs. resistive, capacitive, and optical) tactilization is the state of the art in terms of both performance and cost, and its platform will set a new standard for full 3D device tactilization.

"Natural user interface (NUI) and in particular interacting with a device through touch is an area of rapid development and great excitement," said Reese Schroeder, managing director, Motorola Ventures. "Sensitive Object provides an innovative and unique approach allowing new ways of interaction. We're most excited to be involved in their growth and success."

"We are excited to be working closely with the Motorola team. Motorola is a perfect partner for our disruptive touch solution considering Motorola's innovative and successful history with mobile phones," said Herve Martin, chief executive officer of Sensitive Object.

About Sensitive Object

Sensitive Object is a spin-off from the French Science National Research Centre (CNRS). Sensitive Object has been created in October 2003 and by August 2004 has received funding to speed up its development from Sofinnova Partners, a venture capital firm. Sensitive Object has a workforce of more than 20 engineers and has operations in Paris and Singapore. For more information please visit www.sensitive-object.com.

About Motorola

Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications and is focused on advancing the way the world connects. From broadband communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility and public safety solutions to high-definition video and mobile devices, Motorola is leading the next wave of innovations that enable people, enterprises and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) had sales of US $30.1 billion in 2008. For more information, please visit www.motorola.com.