The San Jose, California-based company has invented a low-cost electronic perception technology that enables ordinary electronic devices to perceive and react to nearby objects or individuals in real time. A typical example would be a virtual keyboard.
For example, if someone needs to write an email but is stranded at an airport without an Internet hook-up, they could use a mobile phone to send email, but using the tiny keypad would be uncomfortable and take a long time. Canesta is developing technology that would allow a mobile phone equipped with a gadget called a projection keyboard to allow the user to use the technology as if using a standard keyboard, on any flat surface.
The device works by beaming an image of a full-size qwerty set-up on to a wall, a table, even a pane of glass. The glowing red keys respond to touch, thanks to a microchip that senses the movements of the user’s fingers over the projected keyboard. To better mimic a traditional typing experience, the device can be set to produce an audible click whenever a key is struck.
Although this sounds far-fetched, the San Jose, California-based company began shipping prototypes to handset manufacturers in September this year, and the technology may well be integrated into the next generation of mobile phones and PDAs.
This is just one possible application of Canesta’s electronic perception chips and software. The company is hoping to port its technology to a range of consumer, automotive, industrial, military, and medical devices.
Canesta has already had two successful funding rounds. It first raised $3.3m in August 2000, and secured a second round of $17m in June 2001. The Series C funding brings the total investment in the company to $36.3m.
Canesta was founded in April 1999, and has over 35 employees. It has filed or been granted in excess of 20 patents.
This article is based on material originally produced by ComputerWire.
