(iTers News) - PointGrab Ltd. and Sunplus Innovation Technology join hands to bring PointGrab’s PointSwitch gesture control solution to the home appliances market worldwide.
This follows PointGrab’s recent unveiling of the new PointSwitch experience that enables consumers to control home appliances from a distance just by pointing at them. Users will now be able to turn lights or the air conditioner on or off, as well as enable more complex controls such as dimming the brightness, partially drawing the shades, or increasing the temperature on the thermostat from a distance. This collaboration will provide an innovative electronic module that makes home appliances easier to operate and consume less energy. The technology will be available for private demonstration during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Jan. 6-10, 2014.
“Gesture control has been available on consumer electronic devices for a while now, so we are excited to partner with PointGrab, a leader in this field, to bring this experience to new markets,” said Chih-Hao Kung, President of SunplusIT. “This collaboration will bring natural gesture control to the home environment and revolutionize the way consumers operate their home appliances.”
PointGrab and SunplusIT are initially targeting lighting control and air conditioning OEMs for residential and commercial segments. Both companies will jointly offer OEMs a unique solution that is based on a sophisticated computer vision algorithms embedded in a low-cost high-performance ISP that can be used for both retrofits and new installations. The electronic module allows home residents to control devices such as lighting fixtures or air conditioners by simply pointing at them. Detection of human presence and location optimizes the operation of the device and energy consumption.
“We expect that in the next few years gesture controlled home appliances will be part of many households around the world,” said Haim Perski, CEO of PointGrab. “Unlike other Smart Home solutions that can only be controlled via a mediator, gesture control for home appliances offers a much more immediate, natural, and convenient experience around the house.”
The products offered range from the high-end PointSwitch v1800 that also includes smart energy saving capabilities, to the more affordable PointSwitch v360. Both products work in all lighting conditions, as well as darkness, and can detect human pointing up to 15 feet away from a wide angle or different locations within the room. PointSwitch products will be available during 2014.
PointGrab and SunplusIT will be demonstrating the new PointSwitch solution at CES in an executive suite at the Las Vegas Hotel (LVH). To set up a business meeting and a demo please contact sales@pointgrab.com.