Canesta

Canesta Inc. operated as a fabless semiconductor company, pioneering a unique form of electronic perception technology. Founded in April 1999 by Cyrus Bamji, Abbas Rafii, and Nazim Kareemi, the firm focused on developing single-chip, 3D sensors based on the time-of-flight (ToF) principle. This technology enabled electronic devices to perceive the world in three dimensions, much like radar but using infrared light. The core of Canesta's offering was its proprietary CMOS image sensor, which could measure the distance to objects for each pixel, effectively creating a real-time 3D map of its surroundings.

The company's business model was centered on providing its CMOS 3D image sensors and associated technology to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across a variety of markets, including consumer electronics, automotive, security, and video gaming. One of its earliest showcased applications was a virtual projection keyboard for mobile devices, which it licensed to Celluon of Korea. Canesta's technology held significant promise for creating natural user interfaces (NUI), allowing for gesture-based control of devices. The firm raised approximately $70 million from investors including The Carlyle Group, Venrock Associates, and Honda Motor Company, which invested over $5 million to develop automotive safety applications like parking assistance and collision avoidance.

Canesta's journey culminated in its acquisition by Microsoft in October 2010 for an undisclosed sum. At the time of the acquisition, Canesta had a substantial intellectual property portfolio with 44 granted patents and many more pending, covering critical areas of 3D sensing from semiconductor physics to computer vision software. This strategic acquisition was seen as a move by Microsoft to bolster its capabilities in natural user interfaces, particularly for its Kinect platform for the Xbox console, and to secure a leadership position in gesture recognition technology.

Keywords: 3D sensing, time-of-flight sensor, CMOS image sensor, electronic perception, natural user interface, gesture recognition, fabless semiconductor, computer vision, machine vision, projection keyboard, automotive sensors, depth sensing, Microsoft acquisition, Cyrus Bamji, Abbas Rafii, single-chip 3D sensor, 3D camera, motion control, human-computer interaction, infrared sensor