Showing posts with label PrimeSense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PrimeSense. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

New Apple Patent

Primesense has been on the radar for a long time around Microvision.

There is a very interesting and tangled web of various companies doing things with Microvision's tech. I don't have much hope of figuring it all out until someone wants us too, but it can keep observers pretty busy.

Thanks SBN


Primesense from this blog

Apple Purchase of Primesense


So, Apple released this patent today

USPTO

Microvision Inc., "Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Scanning Mirror", years 1996-2009. cited by applicant .

Monday, May 15, 2017

First from Advanced Manufacturing Fund

The "all glass" iPhone probably is a thing, but probably years down the road. Apple tips their hand again...

They also bought a sleep-tracking software company (Beddit)

But long before this they bought a 3D sensing company, Primesense, and augmented reality company Metaio....

Fortune

Apple said on Friday that it's investing $200 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund into Corning's glass processing division. The news comes nearly a week after Apple announced that its new Fund would focus on improving advanced manufacturing worldwide. Corning produces a variety of glass products, including hardened glass that reinforces iPhone and iPad screens.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

1000 Apple engineers working on AR?

This is interesting.


Business Insider

"According to some industry sources, the company may have over 1,000 engineers working on a project in Israel that could be related to AR," the note also says. Apple has also made numerous AR-related acquisitions including:
  • PrimeSense (a 3D sensing company based in Tel Aviv).
  • Metaio (developed software that lets users look at products and then apply different colours and finishes, based in Germany).
  • RealFace (cyber-security and facial recognition, also in Tel Aviv).
Milunovich notes that Apple appears more interested in AR rather than virtual reality (VR), because the former connects people whereas the latter is often an isolating experience involving a headset that renders the user blind to the real world.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Microvision Primesense - Apple


  • PrimeSense is a 3D sensing company.
  • PrimeSense was purchased by Apple in November 2013.
  • PrimeSense licensed the Microsoft Kinect Motion Sensing System.

Patents

20130127854 Scanning Projectors And Image Capture Modules For 3D Mapping
20130107021 Interactive Reality Augmentation for Natural Interaction
20130106692 Adaptive Projector

Key phrases from each patent below:



20130127854 Scanning Projectors And Image Capture Modules For 3D Mapping


Something notable about this patent as it exists at this source is the amount of notation that says "text missing or illegible when filed" -- I'm not sure what the meaning of this is, but it could mean that the person filing was distracted in some significant way at filing or there was a reason for haste in filing the patent.



ABSTRACT

Apparatus (20for mapping includes an illumination module (30), which includes a radiation source (32), which is configured to emit a beam of radiation. A scanner (34) receives and scans the beam over a selected angular range. Illumination optics (35) project the scanned beam so as to create a pattern of spots extending over a region of interest. An imaging module (38) captures an image of the pattern that is projected onto an object (28) in the region of interest. A processor (46) processes the image in order to construct a three-dimensional (3D) map of the object.
[Much more content]

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a system for 3D mapping, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Apparatus (20) for mapping includes an illumination module (30), which includes a radiation source (32), which is configured to emit a beam of radiation. A scanner (34) receives and scans the beam over a selected angular range. Illumination optics (35) project the scanned beam so as to create a pattern of spots extending over a region of interest. An imaging module (38) captures an image of the pattern that is projected onto an object (28) in the region of interest. A processor (46) processes the image in order to construct a three-dimensional (3D) map of the object.

   

FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic top views of an illumination module in two different phases of operation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

....Such mirrors may be based on integrated micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Scanning mirrors of this sort are produced by number of manufacturers, such as Microvision, Inc. (Redmond, Wash.).

20130107021 Interactive Reality Augmentation for Natural Interaction



ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention provide apparatus and methods for interactive reality augmentation, including a 2-dimensional camera (36) and a 3-dimensional camera (38), associated depth projector and content projector (48), and a processor (40) linked to the 3-dimensional camera and the 2-dimensional camera. A depth map of the scene is produced using an output of the 3-dimensional camera, and coordinated with a 2-dimensional image captured by the 2-dimensional camera to identify a 3-dimensional object in the scene that meets predetermined criteria for projection of images thereon. The content projector projects a content image onto the 3-dimensional object responsively to instructions of the processor, which can be mediated by automatic recognition of user gestures

The 3-D camera 12 and the 2-D camera 14 are cooperative with a content projector 16, all under the control of a processor, such as a computer 18.

A suitable unit for use in the system 10 that bundles the 3-D camera 12 and the 2-D camera 14 is the PrimeSensor™ Reference Design, available from PrimeSense Corporation, 104 Cambay Conn., Cary N.C., 27513, U.S.A. The content projector 16 may be the PicoP® display engine, available from MicroVision, Inc., 6222 185th Ave NE Redmond Wash., 98052. In some embodiments, the 3-D camera 12 and the 2-D camera 14 may be integral with the content projector 16 as a modification of the PrimeSensor Reference Design. In one embodiment, the 3-D camera 12 is an integrated module that includes an IR projector, which projects a pattern of spots onto the object and captures an image of the projected pattern. Alternatively, the IR projector, may be embodied as a separate module (not shown). The IR projector may be realized according to the teachings of U.S. Provisional Applications 61/372,729 (filed Aug. 11, 2010) and 61/425,788 (filed Dec. 22, 2010), as well as in PCT International Publication WO 2010/020380, all of which are herein incorporated by reference. These provisional and PCT applications also teach how to reuse the scanning hardware to project both the IR required for depth mapping and the visible content.



20130106692 Adaptive Projector


This uses the same illustrations as the patent above.

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for processing data includes a projector, which is configured to project content onto at least a part of a scene. A processor is configured to detect a location of an eye of a person in the scene and to control the projectorso as to reduce an intensity of the projected content in an area of the eye.
... The content projector16 may be the PicoP® display engine, available from MicroVision, Inc., 6222 185th Ave NE Redmond Wash., 98052.



Monday, November 18, 2013

Interesting Day.

Apple buys company behind Kinect technology: Report

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Published: Sunday, 17 Nov 2013 | 2:35 PM ET
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Devin Coldewey | NBC News
The Kinect unit itself, with microphone, time-of-flight unit, and traditional camera.
Apple has bought PrimeSense, an Israeli maker of chips that enable three-dimensional (3D) machine vision, for $345 million, the Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Sunday without citing sources.
PrimeSense has raised $85 million from Israeli and U.S. venture capital funds such as Canaan Partners Global, Gemini Israel and Genesis Partners, Calcalist said.
"We are focused on building a prosperous company while bringing 3D sensing and natural interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices," a spokeswoman for PrimeSense said. "We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumors or recycled rumors."
PrimeSense's sensing technology, which gives digital devices the ability to observe a scene in three dimensions, was used to help power Microsoft's Xbox Kinect.
The acquisition of PrimeSense would be Apple's second purchase of an Israeli company. It bought flash storage chip maker Anobit in January 2012.
And these folks were involved with this... note the PicoP on the shoulder.