Chip technology enables mobile-friendly 3D gesture interfaces

Chip technology enables mobile-friendly 3D gesture interfaces

The GestIC technology enables the next dimension in intuitive, gesture-based, non-contact user interfaces for a broad range of end products. Claimed by the company, the configurable MGC3130 is the world’s first electrical-field (E-field)-based 3D gesture controller which offers low-power, precise, fast and robust hand position tracking with free-space gesture recognition.

With power consumption as low as 150 µW in its active sensing state, the MGC3130 enables always-on 3D gesture recognition — even for battery-powered products where power budgets are extremely tight. In fact, the MGC3130’s low-power design and variety of configurable power modes provide the lowest power consumption of any 3D sensing technology — up to 90% lower than camera-based gesture systems

GestIC technology achieves this high gesture-recognition rates through its on-chip library—called the Colibri Suite — of intuitive and natural human gestures. The Colibri Suite combines a stochastic Hidden Markov model and x/y/z hand-position vectors to provide designers with a reliable set of recognized 3D hand and finger gestures that can be easily employed in their products. GestIC technology utilizes thin sensing electrodes made of any conductive material, such as Printed Circuit Board (PCB) traces or a touch sensor’s Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coating, to enable invisible integration behind the device’s housing. Additionally, the technology provides 100% surface coverage, eliminating “angle of view” blind spots found in other technologies.

Smart features include fast data sampling at 200 Hz, super low noise AFE (for high-accuracy interpretation of electrode sensor inputs), 32-bit signal processing unit, mouse-like resolution of 150 dpi, self calibration, integrated flash memory, self wake-up at 150 µW, and field upgradable. The chip is housed in a 5×5 mm 28-pin QFN package.

Also available is the Sabrewing MGC3130 Single Zone Evaluation Kit (part # DM160217) which enables development with the MGC3130 by providing a selectable electrode size of 5 or 7 ft. The kit comes with the AUREA Graphical User Interface.(MGC3130, $2.26 ea/prod qty; DM160217, $169 — MGC3130 prod qty, Apr 2013).

By Christina Nickolas

Microchip Technology , Chandler , AZ
Sales 480-792-7200
www.microchip.com