After releasing the Kinect, motion sensing device which make the games more interesting by involving the user physical Microsoft said that it was buying Canesta, a small Silicon Valley company that specializes in gesture-recognition technology.
Canesta is a fabless semiconductor company founded in April 1999, manufactures CMOS-based single chip 3D sensors, which can be used as part of input systems for electronic devices.
Nintendo Wii, which is the top in motion sensing game segment is tough competition for SONY and Microsoft's Xbox.
Canesta makes chips that, when coupled with a digital camera, give all manner of devices a sense of depth perception for the world around them, letting them "see" in three dimensions.
Players flick through menus with waves of the hand and then move to make their on-screen avatars run, jump, duck, swing and dance.
The 3-D technology in Kinect is from PrimeSense, a Canesta rival.
In a recent interview, Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, discussed the company's plans to advance the gesture technology well beyond video games.
"I'm excited to be way out in front and want to push the pedal on that," Mr. Ballmer said.
Canesta has spent 11 years building chips that process images and information about distances to give devices some 3-D oomph.
Auto maker, Honda had also invested in the company with the hopes of putting 3-D sensors into cars that could help them to detect obstacles.
Quanta Computer, a Taiwanese company that manufactures laptops for many of the major brands, has also invested in Canesta and expects to build laptops this year with 3-D camera modules.
Canesta's investors have poured about $60 million into the company over the years.
Last year, Microsoft acquired 3DV systems, a company with similar gesture recognition technology.
- New york Times Input
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