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Originally published on 05/20/2002
One of the most important evolutions of technology is the increasing integration of computers into our personal space. Traditionally, machines have been psychically separate from us. To control computers, we type on a keyboard or move a mouse. They communicate via display screens and speakers. We treat them like the machines they are.
Fast Facts:
Canesta
www.canesta.com |
| CEO |
Nazim Kareemi. Previous job: CEO, PenWare
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| HQ |
San Jose, CA
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| Employees |
37
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| Market |
3D imaging technology
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| Funding |
$20M in one seed and one VC round. Lead Carlyle Venture Partners
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| Profitable? |
Projected in Q4 2003
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But increasing computing power is going into machines that are learning to interact with us more naturally, in ways that begin to pull down the walls between person and machine.
For example, Canesta has developed an imaging chip that sees in depth, instead of in light and color. It does this by projecting infrared pulses of light through its lens, then measuring the round-trip time back to its sensor pixels.
The first commercial application is likely to be touchless keyboards (although I can't imagine touch-typing without tactile feedback). More interesting applications include computers that can recognize gestures, or where your head is pointing, or if you're nodding off -- without requiring mood-spoiling datagloves and the like.
In the realm of voice-recognition, even perfect recognition will seem mechanical until machines begin to "barge in" during a dialog the way people do to each other, muttering assent or otherwise providing feedback while we talk. This is the ultimate goal of speech recognition, according to Brainhat president Kevin Dowd.
Plenty of other companies are trying to bring the user interface into the user's world. That means that user interfaces are going to get somewhat creepier for a while, because the more engineers try to make natural UIs, the more they will conflict with our innate sense of what's alive and what isn't. Frankly, I'm not so sure having computers try to understand and imitate humanity is a worthwhile business. But it sure is interesting to watch.
- Rafe Needleman
email: rafe-needleman@catchoday.com
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