Canesta announces Electronic Perception Design Contest to spur application development
NOVEMBER 8--Canesta (San Jose, CA) has announced a design contest for the best applications of its "Electronic Perception Technology." The two-phase contest has been created to spur development of applications in a broad range of markets--from automotive to security and facial recognition, gesture control, human computer interaction, entertainment, and many others. The CanestaVision Contest, which is open to all eligible applicants 18 years and older, features a $10,000 first prize, a $5000 second prize, summer internships for two promising student entries, and awards of ten $7500 development kits that each include a Canesta 3-D sensor module. The winners in each phase will be those that simultaneously demonstrate novel applications of electronic perception technology, high market potential, a substantive advance in computer or "machine" vision, and the ability of the application to address an important or "real" need.
The contest will feature an idea phase and an implementation phase, each with its own prizes. During the idea phase, which began November 5, 2004, contestants will be asked to submit application ideas in the form of brief written descriptions and drawings. From the submitted proposals, due on or before December 6, 2004, the judges will select 10 proposal winners, each of whom will be awarded a Canesta DP200 Electronic Perception Development Kit. This development kit (EP DevKit) has a $7500 list price and contains the CanestaVision 3-D electronic perception sensor chip--with a USB interface and application program interface (API) software. The kits can be used by the winners to translate their proposals or other application ideas to working prototypes. Winners of the first phase of the contest will be notified by January 12, 2005.
The second phase of the contest--the implementation phase--will begin on January 12, 2005, and close June 10, 2005. Contestants in the implementation phase will submit to Canesta a working prototype built using the EP DevKit. From the submitted prototypes, judges will select a first-place winner and a second-place winner. Additionally, the top two student entries will be chosen. The first-place winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, with the second-place winner receiving $5000. Two paid summer internships will be granted to promising student entries at Canesta's headquarters in San Jose, CA, during 2005. In addition, the winning entries will be displayed during SIGGRAPH 2005. All submitted proposals and prototype applications will become public domain.
Interested individuals should note that it is not necessary to participate in or be a winner in the idea phase to enter the second phase contest for cash prizes or internships. It is only required to submit a working prototype by June 10, 2005, that incorporates the CanestaVision sensor in some type of electronic vision application. Contestants who wish to begin application development immediately, or who fail to win one of 10 Development Kit awards in the proposal phase, can purchase their own EP DevKits from Canesta immediately. Academic institutions may receive special pricing.
Canesta expects the contest to attract designs from computer/machine vision researchers, engineers, academicians, and students. Because of the high degree of interest expected from universities and students, Canesta will provide the EP DevKit for $5000 to accredited academic institutions. In addition, the first 10 academicians who include the EP DevKit as part of their course curriculum and submit two or more student or faculty prototype designs to the second phase of the contest will have access to a "contest special" price of $2500 for each EP DevKit.
Canesta wishes to demonstrate the numerous usages for low cost electronic perception technology--particularly in the areas of facial recognition, materials handling, security, man-machine interfaces, automotive sensors--and to stimulate thinking in new areas. The winning proposal entries in Phase 1 will be judged by their novelty, potential market size for the application, degree to which the application addresses a real need, and the degree to which the application exploits the advantages of true 3-D sensing.
Phase 2 entries will be judged on the quality of their implementation (such as frame rate, error rate, ease of use, and other application-specific factors), "gee whiz" factor and PR potential, state of completion of the implementation (ranging from "existence proof" to full-fledged application), quality of accompanying documentation, ease of extending the design by a person skilled in the art, candid discussion of both positive and negative virtues and results, well-described directions for future development, and commercial potential.
No purchase is necessary to enter the proposal phase of the contest. Other than the ten winners of the proposal phase, contestants in the prototype phase of the contest will need to purchase or otherwise gain access to Canesta Electronic Perception Development Kits as described above. Entrants may share DevKits during the course of their development. Official entry forms and the complete and governing Contest Rules and Eligibility are published at www.canesta.com/contest, and those rules supersede this release or any other description. Proposals must be submitted to Canesta electronically as specified in the Rules, by 12:59 p.m. PST, Monday, December 6, 2004, to compete for Phase 1 prizes. Phase 2 of the contest begins 6:00 a.m. PST, Wednesday, January 12, 2005. All Phase 2 entries must be physically received at Canesta's offices in San Jose, CA, by 12:59 PM PDT (GMT-7) Friday, June 10, 2005.
Judging will be by panel, selected by Canesta from the field of electronic perception technology and computer vision, including industry and academic professionals, and Canesta employees.
Canesta will make proposals and prototype designs available for unlimited, unrestricted, royalty-free use by the general public after the winners are announced. All entries become public domain, and may be copied, published, and distributed by third parties--including those not affiliated with the applicants--without restriction.
Canesta is cosponsor of the contest, along with Vision Systems Design Magazine.
