Microsoft is buying a company that will provide a technology boost for the software and electronics giant. The Redmond, Washington based company bought Canesta, a company that provides what is termed as gesture control technology.
There has been speculation that the move by Microsoft was to prevent Sony from getting access to the technology Canesta provides. Others have suggested that Microsoft’s own similar technology is not yet perfected, so they purchased the company to prevent others from getting access to it.
The issue is Primesense technology. Microsoft has been working on this technology that is designed to judge distances of objects and sends out codes using an IR light source that detects codes to calculate the distance. The hope has been that this technology could be used to judge the movement of a person’s hand in gaming situations to provide better control.
The major issue here is what is called gesture technology. The Primesense chip aids with depth perception and acquisition of a company like Canesta that specializes in this technology along with aquisition of 3DV last year is expected to give Microsoft an edge over its competitors. Sony is countering with its Sony Move Motion Controller.
Microsoft hopes to sell at least 3 million devices using the Kinect technology during the upcoming holiday season. Sony already has sales of 1.5 million Sony Move devices following a launch in Europe a few weeks ago.
The acquisition of Canesta is expected to be complete by the end of the year.