Qualcomm to Add Gesture Recognition to Snapdragon Mobile CPUs

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Tapping, swiping, pinching and stretching are just a few ways smartphone and tablet users can manipulate content on their screens. But with a recent acquisition by mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, we might be able to use more gestures soon.

Qualcomm has recently announced its planned acquisition of GestureTek’s gesture-recognition assets and technologies. Said patents involve motion-based human-computer interactions, which will be essential in incorporating any new UI elements in smartphones and tablets. Some of GestureTek’s technologies involve manipulating a device without even touching or holding anything, pretty much like Microsoft’s Kinect.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series of chips already incorporates the graphic processing unit, which is designed to make the platform more energy-efficient than if these are separate. The inclusion of gesture-recognition will enable smartphone and tablet manufacturers to build devices that people can control simply with “natural human gestures.”

If, and when, these gesture-based technologies get implemented, then we can manipulate information and content without even touching our phones’ or tablets’ screens. Maybe this can work well in conjunction with augmented reality or a 3D system, in which we can “hold” virtual objects projected by the device. Or we can also move, resize, stretch or get rid of objects with the simple flick of a finger. But as these are now owned by Qualcomm, we suppose this will mean other chipmakers (such as Apple, Nvidia and even Intel) would have to pay licenses in order to include these in their products).