Telefonica and GestureTek developing gesture-recognition for Imagenio platform

February 8, 2008 – Ed Fower, Managing Director of gesture recognition technology specialist GestureTek, has announced at the NATPE 08 trade show in Las Vegas that the company is jointly developing a system with Telefonica for the telco’s “Imagenio” IPTV platform that can recognise user hand signs via the set-top box (STB).

The system being developed for Imagenio includes a small video camera in the STB that can read the user’s gestures to change channel and other commands without using a remote control.  The system will also be able to recognise if there is a minor using the system and apply a parental lock accordingly, according to reports.

Telefonica announced last December that it was planning to take this technology to Latin America in 2009, as well as announcing a “strategic investment alliance” with GestureTek the same month.

GestureTek’s technology also powers the EyeToy USB camera accessory for Sony’s PlayStation 3.