“Apple has made a strategically promising acquisition, one that hints that the Cupertino giant actually does have some vision for a future other than refining its current products as viable competitors get closer to matching or surpassing them,” Shel Israel writes for Forbes.
“Sensors are a key reason that our mobile devices are coming to understand each of us on such a personal level. PrimeSense is the best of the 3D sensor companies we found,” Israel writes. “Essentially, they let machines see you or your general location in 3D, allowing the machines to learn the context of a situation. PrimeSense devices allow the Microsoft Kinect for XBox 360 to understand what is going on in the living room. Its sensors are so good they can actually see the heartbeat of game players, thus understanding how much a player is enjoying a game or not.”
“Imagine a device that watches you as you watch it. It can see how your heart throbs when certain shows, celebrities or sporting events go on the air. Based on that, it will be able to customize what content it offers up to you. It will also see what you do during commercial intrusions and monitor how you respond when a new character is introduced into a series,” Israel writes. “PrimeSense can bring back Siri. So far, mobile phones have come to understand voice command in a clumsy sort of way, and to talk back in a slightly better fashion. Now the voice of Siri can acquire the eyes of PrimeSense, and that in itself could be a very big deal.”
Much more in the full article here.
“Given how long tech-land has been speculating about a genuinely breakthrough Apple version of a television, a device controllable with hand gestures seems like pretty yawn-inducing anticlimax at this point,” Rob Walker writes for Yahoo News.
“amsung’s Smart TV already features this concept; and while Microsoft has already pushed the idea of an Xbox/Kinect combo as no-buttons alternative to the remote control, that’s a notion that hasn’t exactly set the world on fire,” Walker writes. “Most reviewers still find it clunky, at best.”
“Unless Apple has cracked it, the gesture-controlled iTV might be a red herring; or this might be another case of Apple improving upon a janky existing technology (MP3 players, touchscreen smartphones) and perfecting upon it, making it indispensable and obvious,” Walker writes. “The bottom line is that it’s possible Apple might have something in mind that none of us is clever enough to deduce. After all, that used to be the Apple hallmark: telling the consumer marketplace what we wanted before we could even conceive of it.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple, late to the gesture game, tries to catch up with PrimeSense acquisition – November 25, 2013
Analyst: Apple’s PrimeSense acquisition sets stage for future Apple television products – November 25, 2013
For what will Apple use PrimeSense’s 3-D motion sensing tech? – November 25, 2013
Apple confirms acquisition of Israel’s PrimeSense, company behind Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect, for $350 million – November 25, 2013
Why is Apple buying the company that invented Microsoft’s Kinect? – November 18, 2013
Apple in talks to acquire PrimeSense – November 18, 2013
Apple in talks to buy Israel-based PrimeSense, company behind Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect, for $200 million – July 16, 2013
Apple’s latest patent is a game-changer for iPad – August 20, 2013
Apple partners with TV industry on ‘grand vision’ – July 18, 2013
Report: Apple could have obtained Kinect technology before Microsoft – November 5, 2010