PointGrab’s ubiquitous software set to eliminate computer mice

Fancy changing channels by flicking your hand? How about clicking on an Internet link by “pressing” the air? That and more is possible – has been possible, actually, since 2010 – thanks to Israel’s PointGrab, whose export, in the form of an inexpensive piece of software to recognize hand gestures, has taken the world by storm.

“Our software is installed on millions of PCs, tablets, televisions, and other devices, and in a few years it will be hundreds of millions,” Yoav Hoshen, the company’s vice president of business development, told The Times of Israel.

Hod Hasharon-based PointGrab has quietly been making a huge splash in the world of digital hardware over the past several years. Established in 2008, the company has quickly climbed to the top of its vertical: 90% of two-dimensional hand gesture recognition software is made by PointGrab.

Thanks to agreements with just about every device hardware manufacturer you’ve heard of (and many you probably haven’t), PointGrab software is present in equipment from companies like Lenovo, Fujitsu, Acer, Toshiba, Asus, Haier, and many more.

“There are a few companies working in this space, some of them Israeli, but our technology is unique, and we are the undisputed leader in the industry,” Hoshen said.

To use PointGrab technology, users basically just point with their fingers at items on screen to select, wave their hands in order to control a mouse, or grab (with a hand-closing gesture) in order to select objects. PointGrab works best within 5 meters (15 feet) of the webcam or device reading the gestures. The software communicates with the device’s built-in or attached camera (a simple webcam will do), and the algorithms match the gestures to a pre-programmed library, which can be expanded with PointGrab’s machine learning technology.

Although the software has been installed on many devices, most of the devices currently using PointGrab are in use in the Far East, particularly Japan and Korea. That is set to change in a big way, Hoshen said.

“Adoption of our technology has been subject to the cycle of hardware manufacturing, and manufacturers have told us that they plan to significantly expand use of PointGrab’s technology in the next year.”

Part of the reason for that is the “coming out” of hand-gesture technology, a result of the popularity of Microsoft’s Kinect system. Kinect’s core technology was also made by an Israeli company, called PrimeSense, but is based on 3D camera technology, as opposed to the 2D technology PointGrab uses. The result is a simpler, cheaper software-only solution (as opposed to Kinect, where you need the actual device to use gesture technology).

PointGrab is sold strictly through OEM channels, directly to manufacturers (meaning there is no consumer-downloadable version). As a result, said Hoshen, “we can sell our software for a very small amount per unit, yet make a lot of money. The company has long been profitable.”

And it is set to become even more profitable, thanks to PointGrab’s new version, which will support Windows 8, due out later this year. The new version adds gestures and fine-tunes the software to ensure that all gestures are more efficiently caught, and will include a much-expanded gesture library, and technology to read gestures more carefully.

“Microsoft actually has nothing to do with the software. There is no special hook in the operating system. Everything is in our independent piece of software, installed by the manufacturer,” Hoshen said.

The advent of Windows 8 should give motion technology, and PointGrab in particular, a major boost as more people learn about its capabilities. And computers and devices are just the beginning. How about point and grab technology to control cars, air conditioners, microwaves, and a hundred other items? PointGrab is ready for that, too, the company says.

That’s in the future, though; for now, said Hoshen, get ready to dump your mouse and exercise your hands; they’re going to be getting a lot more use in the coming year.