SoftKinetic becomes Sony Depthsensing Solutions

Two years after its acquisition, SoftKinetic becomes Sony Depthsensing Solutions.

“This transition is the culmination of our work as a Sony subsidiary over the past couple of years,” states CEO Akihiro Hasegawa. “We are honoured to become an integral part of the world’s leading image sensing company, and we will continue working towards the integration of our DepthSense® technology into products for mobile, robotics, and automotive industries worldwide.”

SoftKinetic has been a leader in 3D vision and gesture recognition technologies: it has continuously delivered state-of-the-art solutions in the field of 3D sensing and processing through the development of CMOS 3D sensors, 3D camera reference designs, SDKs, algorithms, and applications for gesture recognition, object scanning, automotive control, and AR/VR. All of which shall now be developed under Sony Depthsensing Solutions.

“We have great expectations for depth sensing technology,” explains Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation Senior General Manager, Satoshi Yoshihara, “as we continue expanding the realm of senses for machines by enabling them with human-like sight.”

A compelling achievement in this area has been the integration of DepthSense® technology and gesture recognition software into premium vehicles and the recent integration of DepthSense® camera module and software designed by the Brussels-based company into Sony’s new Entertainment Robot "aibo". “Sooner rather than later, machines, including cars, will be able to detect, recognise and react towards human beings in ways we used to only think possible in fiction,” adds Akihiro Hasegawa. The Brussels-based team is committed to bringing not only consumer electronics products, but also robots and automobiles to the next level of evolution.

“We trust that 3D depth-sensing technology will revolutionise the way humans and machines interact in the near future, and this conviction is only reinforced by the confidence Sony has put in Sony Depthsensing Solutions to carry out this (r)evolution,” concludes Hasegawa.