Softkinetic Looks Beyond Games for Motion Sensing

The video game industry is eagerly awaiting the launch of Microsoft's Project Natal next year, but motion sensing could have a wide range of applications besides gaming, and 3D gesture recognition developer Softkinetic is looking to take advantage. The company today announced a partnership with Optrima S.A., which invented the Current Assisted Photonic Demodulation (CAPD) 3D sensing technology. Together they will introduce the Softkinetic-Optrima solution; they claim it will be "the most complete 3D depth-sensing imaging and gesture recognition interface solution on the market."

Similar to Natal, the Softkinetic-Optrima solution utilizes a 3D camera and sensor to offer true, one-to-one full-body gesture recognition, but unlike Natal which is exclusive to Xbox 360 (meaning games and dashboard navigation), Softkinetic and Optrima want to integrate their solution into all kinds of consumer electronics (PCs, set-top boxes, televisions and more).

"The availability of a high-performance, low cost 3D imaging solution from Softkinetic-Optrima represents a defining moment in the global consumer electronics industry," said Michel Tombroff, CEO of Softkinetic. "The solution we have developed will bridge the interactive gap between video games, movies, music, web-browsing, and more, dramatically accelerating the consolidation of these digital mediums on electronics devices."

"As media becomes increasingly consolidated, consumer electronics manufacturers and digital media developers seek an accessible, standardized interface technology to help their customers manage the broad array of information and media," added André Miodezky, CEO of Optrima. "Combining the two best-of-breed technologies of Softkinetic and Optrima into one single solution represents a formidable time-to-market competitive advantage for these companies and a revolution in digital interconnectivity for consumers."

In addition to its 3D gesture recognition technology, Softkinetic recently established a games development studio specifically to create games for motion sensing. The firm's first game Silhouette is planned for release in the second half of 2010. You can read the full interview here.