Microsoft acquires 3D motion sensor maker Canesta

Canesta, a Silicon Valley based maker of 3D chips and “electronic perception technology” just confirmed an earlier New York Times report that Microsoft has acquired the company. Terms of the deal were not announced.

For the soon-to-be-release Kinect Xbox add-on, Microsoft is actually using a chip from a competitor of Canesta, though perhaps down the road Microsoft will switch to the technology that it just acquired. That said, Canesta’s motion detection technology – especially in the hands and deep pockets of Microsoft – could be used in a variety of applications including PCs, tablets, appliances and even cars.

Here’s a video from the Canesta website demoing its technology on a PC: