Qualcomm is bolstering its gesture recognition arsenal with the acquisition of relevant patents and other “assets” from GestureTek.
According to Qualcomm VP Steve Mollenkopf, advanced gesture recognition technology will be integrated into the company’s current and next-gen Snapdragon chips.
”Applications processors are enabling a range of new ways for consumers to interface with their home entertainment and mobile devices,” Mollenkopf explained in an official statement.
“Our acquisition of key technology and assets from GestureTek will [give] OEMs the capability to produce smartphones, tablets and home entertainment devices with user interfaces based on natural human gestures.”
As GNT notes, Qualcomm competitor Texas Instruments (TI) has long promoted the idea of gesture recognition alongside their OMAP4 platform.
TI’s gesture recognition has obviously evolved since 2009, and is now described as Me-D, which boasts support for touch-less gesturing in the “natural” dimension, stereoscopic 3D (S3D) in the “third” dimension, and interactive projection in the “projected” dimension.
Meanwhile, Engadget’s Darren Murph dubbed the deal a “strange one,” but acknowledged it could “signal a shift” in the way chip makers are looking towards the future.
“OEMs have long tried to skin their Android devices in a way that’ll breed loyalty to a brand (rather than an OS), but [the question remains, how to build] loyalty to a CPU?” he wrote.
“[Yes], we’re told that the tech will be woven into current and next-gen Snapdragon processors, but only time will tell what sort of seamless wizardry will result.”
