SoftKinetic Leverages Its Advanced Technology And World-Class Freescale Silicon To Bring 3D Gesture Recognition To Automotive Infotainment Systems

-- New Solution Allows for Greater Driver Safety and Less Distraction

BRUSSELS, Jan. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SoftKinetic®, the world's leading provider of 3D vision and gesture recognition solutions, today unveiled an advanced in-vehicle, gesture-based infotainment solution based on SoftKinetic technologies and Freescale silicon. The solution will significantly improve driver safety and functionality, thanks to a higher focus on the road and intuitive navigation of the in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system using gesture recognition.

"Freescale is committed to providing the most innovative embedded processing solutions for the automotive industry, and gesture recognition is a vital part of that strategy," said Rajeev Kumar, director of marketing and business development with Freescale's MCU business.  "SoftKinetic's solutions for 3D vision offer the extremely sophisticated capabilities which help our shared customers innovative 3D embedded automotive solutions."

The SoftKinetic solution is built on Freescale's i.MX 6 processor, one of the industry's first truly scalable multicore platform that includes single-, dual- and quad-core families based on the ARM® Cortex™-A9 architecture.  It also includes SoftKinetic's iisu® 3D gesture recognition middleware, a complete platform for natural gesture development and deployment that supports both full body and finger/hand tracking.  The solution works with most 3D depth sensing cameras and is optimized for high performance, using minimal CPU and memory resources.

"Automotive infotainment solutions have been successful from the start, but consumers are now ready for something more intuitive and less distracting and we are excited to be able to provide that to OEMs in collaboration with Freescale," said Michel Tombroff, CEO of SoftKinetic. "We are confident that 3D gesture recognition will become an integral part of the automotive infotainment experience, offering such capabilities as driver behavior tracking and enhanced context awareness, as demand continues to grow."

"The market for gesture recognition technologies in the automotive sector is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years," said Stirling Adelhelm, investment banking associate at GP Bullhound. "Gesture technology provides an inherently natural means of human machine communication within the car and can be used for a wide range of infotainment functions from navigation to satellite radio.  Indeed, gesture recognition stands to revolutionize the way we interact with controls and commands in the car. As a result, tomorrow's drivers will experience more intuitive, safe and enjoyable infotainment systems thanks to innovative collaborations like the one between Freescale and SoftKinetic."

SoftKinetic will be at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada January 7-10, 2014 to present its new infotainment solution to automotive suppliers and other prospective developers.

About SoftKinetic
SoftKinetic's vision is to give everyone the freedom to control, explore and enjoy the entire digital world through the most natural and intuitive user interfaces and machine interactions. SoftKinetic is the leading provider of gesture-based platforms for the consumer electronics and professional markets, including interactive digital entertainment, consumer electronics, health care, digital signage, and medical systems. The company offers a complete family of 3D imaging and gesture recognition solutions, including patented 3D CMOS time-of-flight sensors, modules and cameras (DepthSense® family of products, formerly known as Optrima product family), multi-platform and multi-camera 3D gesture recognition middleware and tools (iisu® family of products) as well as games and applications from SoftKinetic Studios.

For more information on SoftKinetic please visit www.softkinetic.com. For videos of SoftKinetic-related products visit SoftKinetic's YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/SoftKinetic.

Press contact:
Natalee Gibson
Incendio International
Tel: +1-720-323-5382