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Tag: PrimeSense

  • Apple Acquires Kinect Developer PrimeSense

    Back in July, it was rumored that Apple was purchasing PrimeSense – the company behind the original Kinect for Xbox 360. Those rumors went unconfirmed for almost six months, but both companies have finally come clean regarding their relationship.

    Reuters reports that Apple has officially acquired PrimeSense. While there’s no official press release about the acquisition, an Apple spokesman told the publication that Apple “buys smaller technology companies from time to time.” He further added that Apple doesn’t “generally discuss [their] purpose or plans” when it comes to these acquisitions.

    So, what is PrimeSense? The company may be most well known for helping Microsoft develop the original Kinect for the Xbox 360, but the Israeli company has been incredibly busy over the past few years developing gesture-based technologies for various fields, from entertainment and robotics to medicine and industry.

    While it’s not known what exactly Apple will have PrimeSense do, the company’s latest product may give us a clue as to what we can expect. Back in January, the company unveiled a new chip that would allow smartphones to be controlled via gestures. This kind of technology could very well show up in the next iPhone.

    Another interesting application relates to Apple’s long-rumored television. PrimeSense has already developed gesture-based control software for televisions, and it could be what Apple has been looking for in its quest to bring a television to market.

    Beyond those two applications, it’s unknown if Apple will use PrimeSense’s technology for anything else. The company has made Kinect-like sensors for PCs, and Apple might offer its own “Kinect” for Macs to compete with the amazing work Microsoft has been doing with Kinect for Windows. Beyond that, we’ll just have to wait and see what Apple and PrimeSense have in store for the world of gesture-based control.

    [Image: BotJunkie/YouTube]

  • Apple Might Buy The Team That Created The Kinect [Report]

    The hardware powering Microsoft’s Kinect technology was originally created by an Israeli tech firm called PrimeSense. Microsoft has moved on to its own in-house developed hardware, but new reports suggest Apple may now be interested in the firm’s hardware.

    Calcalist, an Israeli publication with a good track record, reports today that Apple is currently in talks with PrimeSense over whether or not it wants to purchase the company. If it does, it could signal that Apple is planning to integrate motion sensing tech into its next products.

    9to5Mac says that motion sensing tech from Apple isn’t entirely out of the question as the company has already submitted patents for gesture-based technology. It would most likely be used in the oft-rumored Apple TV or other hardware that would help Apple take over the living room.

    Apple has conquered the world of smartphones and tablets, but its current Apple TV hasn’t managed to really make a dent in the living room market share yet. Microsoft has way more experience in the space and its Xbox brand is synonymous with living room entertainment for a lot of people. By buying PrimeSense, Apple could be signaling that it’s finally serious about taking back some living room market share away from Microsoft.

    This is all merely conjecture based on unverified reports for now though. There’s good reason to believe that Apple is interested in acquiring PrimeSense, however, as Calcalist has been right regarding other acquisitions of Israeli companies in the past. It’s also not too hard to believe that Apple is finally preparing an assault on the living room.

  • Smartphones Will Soon Be Equipped With Their Own “Kinect”

    You may not who PrimeSense is, but you definitely know the company’s products. The Israel-based company produces the sensors used in Microsoft’s Kinect full-body motion controller. Now the company is working to bring that same technology to smartphones.

    PrimeSense recently announced that its motion sensing technology for mobile phones has shrunk enough to be able to fit comfortably into mobile devices. The hardware is called Capri 1.25, and features a number of enhancements over the past versions of the technology.

    Capri 1.25 is 3D sensing technology at its heart, and as such, will be judged by its ability to scan the environment around it. The latest hardware has the following features:

  • Field of View 57.5×45
  • Range 0.8m-3.5m
  • VGA depth map (640×480)
  • USB2.0 powered
  • Standard off the shelf components
  • OpenNI compliant

    • All of the above technical information may not mean much to you, so here’s a video that shows what PrimeSense’s technology may be capable of in the near future:

    Will the Capri 1.25 be able to do all that right now? Of course not, but PrimeSense obviously thinks that 3D motion tracking is the future. They think it will be in everything from smartphones to store displays.

    Speaking of smartphones, we may start seeing the technology appearing in mobile devices later this year. PrimeSense says the chipset will be available in mid to late 2013 for those who able to buy 100,000 chipsets annually.

    [h/t: Fast Company Design]