frog design Showcases Canesta Technology at SXSW Interactive Event

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To create a truly memorable experience at the official opening party for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference taking place now in Austin, TX., frog design chose to use Canesta Inc.’s leading 3-D sensor technology as a key element of the augmented reality-themed event. Known for its use of cutting edge emerging technologies, frog design is a global innovation firm and helps the world's leading companies create and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences.

“We are just beginning to see how 3-D input – or ‘the other side of 3-D’ – will change the way we interact with virtually every kind of product”

frog’s use of Canesta’s technology for SXSW focused on an exploration of interactive artistic and video game environments. frog created a compelling experience incorporating large projections of dynamic visualizations of the environment’s depth as well as allowing the user be the controller in a series of rotating, retro arcade-style games. Users were able to be turned into “Mario” in “Mario Land,” the paddle of “Breakout,” or the spaceship in “Galaga”.

The technology behind the visualizations was used to show depth data in non-obvious ways, bringing a bit of “hidden wow” into what were otherwise just fun and beautiful interactive visuals. Thanks to projection onto a 12’ x 9’ screen, the user was completely immersed in the visualization, and the crowd was able to enjoy the fun.

“The power of seeing depth over a traditional 3-D experience is an ability to remove controllers, allowing users to interact with an experience as naturally as waving their hands to illustrate a conversation,” said Jared Ficklin, principal technologist for frog design and architect of the party experience. “Canesta’s unique 3-D input technology played a key role in enhancing the experience we created. Looking ahead, it is likely to change the way we relate to many devices from gesture-controlled televisions that sense our presence, to taking mobile phones, personal computers and other devices beyond direct multi-touch interfaces.”

Canesta, the pioneer and inventor of electronic perception technology is the leading provider of 3-D sensor chips that make natural user interfaces (NUI) and 3-D input available at mass market prices. To date, the company has announced several high-profile customers and a recent investment by Quanta, the world’s leading manufacturer of laptop computers, underscoring the importance of this technology for next generation PCs and consumer electronics.

“We are just beginning to see how 3-D input – or ‘the other side of 3-D’ – will change the way we interact with virtually every kind of product,” said Jim Spare, Canesta’s president and CEO. “frog design is one of the most forward-thinking product innovators in the world and we are very excited they are harnessing the power of our technology at South by Southwest.”

About frog design

frog design (www.frogdesign.com) is a global innovation firm and helps the world's leading companies create and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences. frog's multidisciplinary process reveals valuable consumer and market insights and inspires lasting, humanizing solutions. With a team of more than 400 designers, technologists, strategists, and analysts, frog delivers fully convergent experiences that span multiple technologies, platforms, and media. frog works across a broad spectrum of industries, including consumer electronics, telecommunications, healthcare, media, education, finance, retail, and fashion. Clients include Disney, GE, HP, Logitech, Microsoft, MTV, Seagate, Yahoo! and others. Founded in 1969, frog is headquartered in San Francisco, with studios in Austin, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, New York, Seattle, and Shanghai. frog design is an independent division of Aricent, a global innovation, technology, and outsourcing company, focused exclusively on communications. Aricent is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Sequoia Capital, The Family Office, and Flextronics.

About Canesta and the “Other Side of 3-D”

Canesta (www.canesta.com) is the inventor of revolutionary, low cost electronic perception technology and leading provider of single chip CMOS 3-D sensors that fundamentally change the relationship between devices and their users. This capability makes possible “the other side of 3-D” – true 3-D perception as input to everyday devices, rather than the widely understood 3-D representational technologies as output. Canesta’s 3-D input technology, based upon tiny, CMOS 3-D imaging chips or “sensors”, enables fine-grained, 3-dimensional depth-perception in a wide range of applications. Products based on this capability can then react on sight to the actions or motions of individuals and objects in their field of view, gaining levels of functionality and ease of use that were simply not possible in an era when such devices were blind. Canesta’s focus is on mass market consumer electronics, but many applications exist in other markets as well. Some of Canesta’s customers and partners include Hitachi, Honda, Optex, Optronic, Quanta, SMSC, and others which have yet to be announced.

Canesta is located in Sunnyvale, CA. The company has filed in excess of fifty patents, 41 of which have been granted so far.

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Additional background information is available at www.roeder-johnson.com.