GestureTek's Mobile Gesture Recognition Technology Embedded in DoCoMo Phones
Users Navigate Menus, Maps, Games & More by Tilting Handset
SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 25 // -- GestureTek Mobile, a division of GestureTek, Inc., announced today that its EyeMobile gesture recognition technology for mobile phones has been embedded in two new DoCoMo FOMA(TM) 904i series handsets being released in Japan this month. The announcement marks the first OEM handset agreement for GestureTek's patented technology, and it paves the way for a fundamental shift in user/mobile interaction by allowing users to navigate menus, maps, photos, games and other applications simply by tilting the cellphone in various directions.
The new DoCoMo phones will launch with several dozen EyeMobile-enabled applications, including games such as Crash Bandicoot and Katamari Damashii that will bring motion-controlled gameplay to the cellular phone. Other near-term applications will include a map browser that enables rapid, button-free map navigation. Future possibilities include motion-controlled menu scrolling, picture browsing, and digital camera image zoom-and-pan as well as gesture-based Web page navigation that will vastly simplify use of the mobile Internet.
"DoCoMo not only has the top mobile market share in Japan and 52 million customers around the world, but a reputation as an innovator in cellphone design. Where they go, the market follows," noted William Leckonby, CEO of GestureTek Inc. "This agreement will therefore put millions of EyeMobile-enabled handsets on the street, as well as set the stage for broad adoption by mobile operators and handset manufacturers worldwide."
That adoption is expected to be driven in part by the competitive advantages of GestureTek's EyeMobile technology platform. In addition to providing next-generation mobile input capability with value for consumer and corporate users alike, EyeMobile eliminates the expense and real estate of adding specialized hardware to deploy gesture recognition. Instead, EyeMobile software utilizes the camera already installed in the handset to sense movement by comparing one frame in the camera viewfinder to the next.
The EyeMobile Engine includes three trackers, dubbed Shake, Rock, and Roll, that represent different types of motion for different types of input. Shake can be used for actions such as rolling dice and shuffling MP3 decks. Rock interprets right, left, up and down gestures to generate traditional cursor-style user input commands. Roll offers joystick control by responding to tilting motions to navigate games, maps or Web pages.
GestureTek's EyeMobile technology is an extension of the company's core Video Gesture Control platform, which has been licensed and employed in applications ranging from retail display and digital signage to the Microsoft Xbox 360, the Sony PlayStation 2 EyeToy and downloadable mobile games. A demo of GestureTek's EyeMobile is available at http://www.gesturetekmobile.com/.
About GestureTek
GestureTek is the world leader in computer vision for gesture-based control of information and entertainment systems and displays. GestureTek's gesture-recognition technology is employed in a wide array of applications and environments, where the user is either stepping on or into interactive floor or wall projections, pointing at a display from any distance, or having their real-time actual video image immersed on the screen. Public installations and kiosks appear in multiple markets: museums, science centers, military control rooms, location-based-entertainment facilities, retail locations, physical rehabilitation programs, interactive floors or windows, and interactive billboards. Consumer applications include those on the home PC, console gaming, toys, and mobile devices. GestureTek headquarters are in Sunnyvale, California, with additional offices in Toronto, Ottawa and New York. For information and/or a DVD or video, contact GestureTek at 416-340-9290 ext. 274, Jennifer.Young@gesturetek.com. http://www.gesturetek.com/
Source: GestureTek
Web site: http://www.gesturetek.com/
