Gestigon

Gestigon (stylized as gestigon) is a software development company founded in September 2011, by Sascha Klement, Erhardt Barth, and Thomas Martinetz. The company develops software for gesture control and body tracking based on 3D depth data.[1]

Gestigon
IndustryAutomotive, consumer electronics, virtual reality, augmented reality, smart home technology and IoT
FoundedSeptember 2011
FounderSascha Klement, CTO
Moritz von Grotthuss, CEO (late founder)
Erhardt Barth
Thomas Martinetz
HeadquartersLübeck, Germany
Sunnyvale, California, U.S.
Key people
Fabian von Kuenheim (lead investor, advisory board)
Holger G. Weiss (advisory board)
Gunnar Gräf (advisory board)
ProductsSoftware, GECKO, FLAMENCO, Carnival SDK
Websitewww.gestigon.com

As of 2016, Gestigon is developing augmented reality and automotive solutions for Audi,[2] Renault and Volkswagen. The company is also working on AR/VR headsets as well as consumer electronics and smart home devices.[3]

In March 2017, Gestigon was acquired by Valeo, a French automotive supplier.[4][5][6]

History

Sascha Klement worked as a student assistant and Ph.D. student for the professors Thomas Martinetz and Erhardt Barth,[7] who have been developing software solutions based on time-of-flight sensors at the University of Lübeck since 2002. Together they founded Gestigon in 2011 with seed-funding from High-Tech Gründerfonds, Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein and local business angels.[8][9][10]

In March 2012, Moritz von Grotthuss joined the company as advisor and later became CEO, being considered a late-founder. The same month, Gestigon received an Innovation Award at CeBIT 2012, being one of the 15 startups to receive an award out of 276 candidates.[11]

In January 2013, Gestigon participated at CES in Las Vegas and, later that year, also at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York City.[12] The next year Visteon and Volkswagen used Gestigon's gestures solutions in their products presented at CES 2014[13] and CeBIT 2014, where it won the “CeBIT Innovation Award”.[14]

Further public displays of Gestigon's technologies include Audi at CES 2015 and CES 2016; Volkswagen and Infineon. Gestigon launched its Virtual Reality solution Carnival at the TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco in September 2015, using an Oculus Rift and different depth sensors. The first demo using a mobile device was done at the CES 2015. Gestigon has partnered with several companies that develop hardware solutions, especially depth sensors, to provide sensing solutions. In 2015, Gestigon partnered with Inuitive, a 3D computer vision and image processors developer, to create a VR unit. The system was presented at CES 2016 assembled on an Oculus Rift development kit.[15]

In July 2015, Gestigon closed its Series A financing round from with nbr technology ventures GmbH as a primary investor headed by Fabian von Kuenheim and High-Tech Gründerfonds and Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures. Fabian von Kuenheim became chairman of the advisory board which was also composed of the German entrepreneur Holger G. Weiss and the French investor Gunnar Graef.[16] In March 2017, Gestigon was acquired by Valeo, a French automotive supplier.[17][18][19] In March 2017, Gestion developed software that recognizes driving gestures.[20]

Products

Gestigon develops software that works with 3D sensors to recognize human gestures, poses and biometrical features in real time,[21] such as:

  • Gecko, a feature tracker that tracks an individual and measures their biometric features,[22]
  • Flamenco, a piece of software for finger and hand gesture control,[23]
  • Carnival SDK, software for augmented reality and virtual reality,[24] which allows users to see and use their hands in virtual interfaces.[25]

Gestigon's solutions are based on skeleton recognition. Their software recognizes body parts in 3D data to make the recognition faster and more accurate.[26] The software is sensor-agnostic and can work based on the data from any depth module using time-of-flight, stereo or structured light technologies.

References
  1. "(in Russian) Manage gestures for Audi cars took to develop the specialists of the German company Gestigon". Digitimes – China. 2016-01-27. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  2. "Gestigon provides gesture control solution for Audi at the CES ASIA". Ai-online. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  3. "BMW's flagship gives gesture controls first big test". Autonews. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  4. "Valeo acquires 3D image processing startup Gestigon". techEU. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  5. Nouvelle, L'Usine (2017-03-13). "Valeo acquiert l'allemand Gestigon, spécialiste de l'image 3D – L'Usine Auto". usinenouvelle.com/ (in French). Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  6. "VALEO acquiert gestigon, spécialiste du traitement d'images en 3D de l'habitacle". Capital.fr (in French). 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  7. "Sascha Klement: Institut für Neuro- und Bioinformatik". www.inb.uni-luebeck.de. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  8. "Geräte steuern mit Gesten: gestigon erhält Seedfinanzierung". High-Tech Gründerfonds. 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  9. "Millionenbetrag für Lübecker Tech-Startup Gestigon". Gründerszene. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  10. "Revolution per Fingerschnipp". Starting Up. 2013-02-03. Archived from the original on 2017-03-01. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  11. "Gewinner des "Gründerwettbewerbs – IKT innovativ" auf CeBIT ausgezeichnet". Innomonitor. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  12. Moritz von Grotthuss (2013-04-30). Gestigon Links The Human Skeleton To Apps. Forbes. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  13. "Touchless Control Coming to Cars" (PDF). Visteon. 2014-03-04. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  14. "gestigon ist ausgezeichneter Ort im "Land der Ideen"". Germany Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. 2015-11-10. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  15. "Inuitive and Gestigon bring gesture recognition to VR at CES". Shootonline. 2016-01-04. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  16. "Gestigon closes a successful Series A financing". High-tech Gruenderfonds. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  17. "Valeo acquires 3D image processing startup Gestigon". techEU. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  18. Nouvelle, L'Usine (2017-03-13). "Valeo acquiert l'allemand Gestigon, spécialiste de l'image 3D – L'Usine Auto". usinenouvelle.com/ (in French). Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  19. "VALEO acquiert gestigon, spécialiste du traitement d'images en 3D de l'habitacle". Capital.fr (in French). 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  20. "Lübecker Startup Gestigon geht an französischen Autozulieferer | NGIN Mobility". NGIN Mobility (in German). 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  21. "BMW's flagship gives gesture controls first big test". Autonews. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  22. "Gestigon: Gesture & Skeletal Recognition – Automotive Leads the Way". Telematics wire. Archived from the original on 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  23. "Gestigon Gesture Tracking". Techcrunch. 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  24. Zhengfei Wen (2016-01-27). "(in Chinese) Virtual Reality (VR) is embedded platform greatly enhance the realism of gesture recognition". Ixbt – Russia. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  25. "Gestigon Ports its Firmware to PMD and Inuitive Hardware". Appmarsh. 2016-01-04. Archived from the original on 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  26. "Gestigon – Minority Report made real with gesture-control technology". Venture village. 2012-07-25. Archived from the original on 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
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