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Qualcomm acquires gesture recognition IP from GestureTek, aims for Snapdragon integration
What's superior to a shiny new Snapdragon, blazing all sorts of benchmarking trails in your next tablet and / or smartphone? Why, a Snapdragon with a pinch of IP from GestureTek, of course! Qualcomm has today announced its intentions to acquire "certain assets" from GestureTek, a long-standing developer of gesture recognition technology. We've seen the aforementioned outfit touch the mobile (and not-so-mobile) realm before, but now it looks like it'll be more aggressively touching devices with Qualcomm silicon. It's a strange move, indeed, but it could be one that signals a shift in the way chip makers are looking out for themselves. OEMs have long tried to skin their Android devices in a way that'll breed loyalty to a brand (rather than an OS), but loyalty to a CPU? According to Qually (yeah, what of it?), the buy will give it access to "key engineering resources," and while GestureTek will maintain "other assets in continuation of its gesture-controlled public display and digital signage business," we suspect the consumer-facing aspects will soon have a new master. We're told that the tech will be woven into current and next-gen Snapdragon processors, but only time will tell what sort of seamless wizardry will result. Hope your digits are ready.
GestureTek intros 42-inch multitouch GestTable, your HDTV suddenly turns jealous
Still looking to snap up your own Surface? Ain't got the cheddar to buy that one that comes free with a yacht? In all honesty, we're in no position to make promises about the affordability of this one, but GestureTek is gearing up to offer the world yet another option with the curiously titled GestTable. This 42-inch beast of a table contains a multitouch LCD with a lovely 1080p resolution, which means that you could theoretically watch the next installation of the Batman series on the same surface that's holding your cup of joe. Not that we'd recommend that, but hey.... In related news, the company is introducing the new 70-inch GestDisplay, a massive freestanding multitouch panel aimed primarily at businesses looking to give prospective customers a way to interact with the wares they're about to inevitably buy. As we alluded to earlier, there's nary a mention of price, but feel free to dip into the nitty-gritty just past the break.
GestureTek brings Eyemo gesture control to Android, Momo tracking engine for Windows Mobile
GestureTek was showing off some of its gesture-based options for controlling your TV at last year's CES, and it's now back again with a few more slightly interesting pieces of software. That includes a version of its Eyemo software for Android, which is already available for range of other platforms, and lets developers take advantage of a phone's camera to add gesture control options to various applications -- although that only involves gesturing with the device itself, not your hands. The company's recently announced Momo software for Windows Mobile takes things one step further than that, however, and will indeed apparently let you control a game or other application with hand or body gestures -- although that'll likely work best on a device with a front-facing camera.
GestureTek brings 3D and gestures together for remote control
The idea of gesture-based remote control isn't new, but GestureTek has added in 3D tracking to the mix for, you guessed it -- even more expressive interaction with your TV. After all, you don't live in flatland, so why should your remote control gestures? Of course, adding in depth perception requires the use of more than one webcam, but maybe that's not a big tradeoff in our age of six and more speakers in the living room. The setup will be on display at CES (sans Xpletive), so we'll try and swing by for a, um, hands on while we puzzle over how to add voice commands to this system. Watching the big game with your buddies just might get even more entertaining yet.
GestureTek and Xpletive showcase 3D interactive exhibit
It's hard to say how soon GestureTek and Xpletive's latest concoction will have a real impact on the at-home 3D market, but guests at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing were able to experience flight over Vancouver (the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics) via the B.C. Explorer. The so-called immersive display was used to promote the upcoming Games and stimulate interest in British Columbia, and it enabled onlookers to step into a curved panoramic projection dome and virtually fly over one of Canada's most popular locales. Along the way, users could use gestures to pull back and watch full-screen HD movies of certain points of interest. The two firms are hoping to deploy five kiosks over the next year, though they're being awful quiet about specific applications right now.
