Kionix Enables Motion-based Gesture Determination

One of the future trends in the semiconductor industry is based upon the expectation that electronics will adapt to how individuals and society live for greater efficiency. During the Globalpress Electronics Summit 2010, Eric Eisenhut, Vice President for Sales and Marketing of Kionix Inc., cited the mobile workforce, safety in cars, improved healthcare delivery, and efficiency in industry as few of the driving forces toward this goal.

Speaking at Globalpress Summit’s “MEMS is HOT: How MEMS is Fueling Growth in the Post-recession Economy” panel discussion, Eisenhut noted that one key technology enabling development in this area is the MEMS (microelectromechanical system) sensor, which could provide context awareness for intelligent decisions or natural experience, for instance in electronic stability control within vehicles, navigation and position for mobile electronics, and user interfaces that adapt to the individual. Apart from this, he mentioned that MEMS sensors are likewise fueling development in the semiconductor manufacturing industry in terms of system innovation—that is, integrating a variety of sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, pressure sensors, and haptic sensors, to name a few; system partitioning, taking into account microcontrollers, memory and power management; and manufacturability.

“MEMS suppliers are expected to incorporate algorithms into ASIC blocks of silicon, integrate multiple-sensor systems with available processing and power requirements, and create application development tools that accommodate market requirements for third-party developers in embedded, mobile environments,” Eisenhut added.

Gesture Designer
One of the latest releases from Kionix is the Gesture Designer, a tool that allow mobile electronics vendors to enhance their software development kits with critical capabilities that include greater access to embedded sensors, the ability to interpret sensor outputs, and the ability to customize the use of this information for specific applications or end-user characteristics. Gesture Designer is a software engine that, when embedded into device hardware, allows individuals to capture, and manage unique signatures for any number of gestures they wish to generate for motion-enabled functionality in consumer electronics. It is a development platform that allows developers to create a gesture library that can be embedded within gaming, healthcare, or user-interface applications.

“Content developers struggle to define a gesture library that can be applied to all applications and all users; they are eager for tools that will help them understand motion sensing,” said Eisenhut. “Gesture Designer provides a user-friendly environment for the creation, evaluation, and implementation of motion-based gestures for such applications as intuitive user interface and interactive gaming.”

Kionix Inc.