Orbbec Technology found its way through the rigorous
committee selection process and into the I-Zone this year at Display Week. The
Shenzhen, China, based company has 3D camera
technology that Business Development Manager Agnes Zheng claims offers higher
accuracy, lower power, and easier connectivity to more operating systems than
the flagship Microsoft Connect II. Zheng has a masters in mechanical
engineering specializing in optical measurement. She was part of the group that
spun out of a university research project with its IR laser sensor technology that she claims can measure objects at 1 meter with accuracy levels at 1-3 mm
in measurement of size and distance to the object.
"The laser sensor we use has a narrow bandwidth laser
light that does not get absorbed by dark surfaces. We designed it in-house and
have it specially made for this product," Zheng said. They also added an
improved bandwidth filter and improved algorithms, all contributing to the
higher accuracy performance.
The group has support not just for Windows,(it's Windows
exclusively on the Connect II), but also Android and Unix platform
development. It also will sell an OEM module for individual
product design projects and integration into multiple devices including LCD- and
OLED-based TVs. Power is another advantage over the popular MS Connect II, as
the Orbbec 3D camera runs off a standard USB2 connection with 1.8W maximum draw,
far lower than the MS 5.0 W requirement.
The retail version of the product is $150 and requires no
power adapter, putting the Orbbec at parity with Connect II when the price of
the external power adapter is added on to the $99.
Microsoft moved to a time of flight (ToF) model in the
Connect II while Orbbec uses a unique dot pattern the company designed
using the structured light approach. Zheng told us Orbbec has global patents on this technology.
Meanwhile, back in the I-Zone, users had a blast using motion
detection to control the Sony HD flatscreen, playing real-time games and
showing off just how accurate 3D gesture recognition can be. -- Steve Sechrist
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