<s>
ZCam	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
Chinese	O
camera	O
company	O
with	O
products	O
manufactured	O
in	O
China	O
and	O
parts	O
supplied	O
from	O
the	O
controversial	O
Chinese	O
company	O
Huawei	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZCam	B-General_Concept
is	O
owned	O
by	O
Chinese	O
parent	O
company	O
Shenzhen	O
ImagineVision	O
Technology	O
Limited	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZCam	B-General_Concept
is	O
also	O
a	O
brand	O
of	O
time-of-flight	B-Device
camera	I-Device
products	O
for	O
video	O
applications	O
by	O
Israeli	O
developer	O
3DV	B-General_Concept
Systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
supplements	O
full-color	O
video	O
camera	O
imaging	O
with	O
real-time	O
range	B-Algorithm
imaging	I-Algorithm
information	O
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
the	O
capture	O
of	O
video	O
in	O
3D	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZCam	B-General_Concept
also	O
faced	O
a	O
"	O
huge	O
train-wreck	O
"	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
US-China	O
trade	O
war	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
had	O
a	O
direct	O
impact	O
through	O
restricting	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
's	O
ability	O
to	O
service	O
their	O
customers	O
products	O
and	O
effectively	O
made	O
their	O
customers	O
warranties	O
worthless	O
despite	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
's	O
obligations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZCam	B-General_Concept
attempted	O
to	O
hide	O
the	O
impact	O
the	O
US-China	O
trade	O
war	O
had	O
on	O
their	O
warranties	O
from	O
their	O
customers	O
through	O
removing	O
this	O
information	O
from	O
the	O
press	O
and	O
Facebook	O
groups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
,	O
released	O
in	O
2000	O
,	O
was	O
an	O
ENG	O
video	O
camera	O
add-on	O
used	O
for	O
digital	O
video	O
compositing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
agreeing	O
in	O
March	O
2009	O
to	O
sell	O
its	O
assets	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
3DV	B-General_Concept
had	O
planned	O
to	O
release	O
a	O
ranging	O
video	B-Protocol
webcam	I-Protocol
(	O
previously	O
called	O
the	O
Z-Sense	O
)	O
,	O
also	O
under	O
the	O
name	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
webcam	B-Protocol
was	O
one	O
of	O
several	O
competing	O
real-time	O
range	B-Algorithm
imaging	I-Algorithm
camera	O
products	O
in	O
development	O
that	O
target	O
home	O
game	B-Device
controller	I-Device
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZCam	B-General_Concept
's	O
cameras	O
are	O
designed	O
by	O
the	O
Chinese	O
design	O
company	O
IDING	O
(	O
Chengdu	O
)	O
Innovation	O
Technology	O
Ltd	O
based	O
in	O
Chengdu	O
in	O
China	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
's	O
time-of-flight	B-Device
camera	I-Device
system	O
features	O
a	O
near-infrared	O
(	O
NIR	O
)	O
pulse	O
illumination	O
component	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
an	O
image	B-Algorithm
sensor	I-Algorithm
with	O
a	O
fast	O
gating	O
mechanism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
on	O
the	O
known	O
speed	O
of	O
light	O
,	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
coordinates	O
the	O
timing	O
of	O
NIR	O
pulse	O
wave	O
emissions	O
from	O
the	O
illuminator	O
with	O
the	O
gating	O
of	O
the	O
image	B-Algorithm
sensor	I-Algorithm
,	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
signal	O
reflected	O
from	O
within	O
a	O
desired	O
depth	O
range	O
is	O
captured	O
exclusively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
fast	O
timing	O
required	O
for	O
light-based	O
time-of-flight	O
,	O
the	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
uses	O
custom	O
hardware	O
for	O
illumination	O
and	O
gating	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
illuminator	O
is	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
NIR	O
laser	O
diodes	O
around	O
the	O
lens	O
barrel	O
,	O
switched	O
by	O
special	O
high-speed	O
driver	O
circuits	O
that	O
produce	O
pulses	O
with	O
a	O
rise	O
time	O
and	O
fall	B-Algorithm
time	I-Algorithm
of	O
less	O
than	O
one	O
nanosecond	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previously	O
using	O
an	O
image	O
intensifier	O
for	O
gating	O
the	O
image	B-Algorithm
sensor	I-Algorithm
,	O
3DV	B-General_Concept
later	O
developed	O
a	O
special	O
solid-state	O
image	O
shutter	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
a	O
gallium	O
arsenide-based	O
electro-optical	O
chip	O
that	O
is	O
mounted	O
atop	O
the	O
image	B-Algorithm
sensor	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
was	O
reportedly	O
developing	O
a	O
gating	O
solution	O
based	O
on	O
less-expensive	O
CMOS-process	O
fabrication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
time-of-flight	B-Device
camera	I-Device
is	O
optically	O
matched	O
with	O
a	O
corresponding	O
video	O
camera	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
RGB	O
video	O
and	O
range	B-Algorithm
imaging	I-Algorithm
to	O
integrated	O
together	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
3DV	B-General_Concept
refers	O
to	O
the	O
combination	O
as	O
"	O
RGBD	O
"	O
(	O
or	O
RGB-D	O
)	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
"	O
D	O
"	O
refers	O
to	O
a	O
"	O
depth	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
distance	O
"	O
channel	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Targeted	O
primarily	O
at	O
the	O
video	O
game	O
market	O
,	O
the	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
webcam	B-Protocol
was	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
game	B-Device
controller	I-Device
like	O
the	O
EyeToy	B-General_Concept
,	O
using	O
gesture	B-General_Concept
recognition	I-General_Concept
to	O
interpret	O
hand	O
and	O
body	O
gestures	O
for	O
controlling	O
the	O
interface	O
,	O
but	O
without	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
complications	O
of	O
a	O
purely	O
2D-based	O
computer	B-Application
vision	I-Application
approach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developing	O
the	O
device	O
since	O
2005	O
,	O
3DV	B-General_Concept
completed	O
the	O
initial	O
prototype	O
in	O
late	O
2006	O
,	O
and	O
officially	O
announced	O
the	O
product	O
in	O
late	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
webcam	B-Protocol
had	O
a	O
60-degree	O
field	O
of	O
view	O
,	O
a	O
frame	O
rate	O
of	O
60	O
Hz	O
,	O
a	O
1.3	O
megapixel	O
full	O
color	O
video	O
resolution	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
8-bit	O
Quarter	O
VGA	O
ranging	O
resolution	O
(	O
320x240	O
pixels	O
with	O
256	O
depth	O
levels	O
per	O
pixel	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
webcam	B-Protocol
connected	O
via	O
a	O
USB	B-Protocol
2.0	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Demonstrations	O
included	O
a	O
boxing	O
game	O
,	O
an	O
airplane	O
demo	O
,	O
Windows	B-Device
Media	I-Device
Center	I-Device
hand-gesture	O
control	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
body-gesture	O
Second	B-Application
Life	I-Application
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
3DV	B-General_Concept
stated	O
that	O
the	O
webcam	B-Protocol
would	O
be	O
priced	O
comparably	O
to	O
other	O
peripherals	O
in	O
the	O
gaming	O
market	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
Eye	I-Device
:	O
less	O
than	O
US$100	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
bundled	O
US	O
$69.99	O
price	O
mentioned	O
as	O
a	O
possibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
webcam	B-Protocol
was	O
to	O
include	O
software	B-Application
development	I-Application
kits	I-Application
for	O
camera	O
control	O
and	O
gesture	B-General_Concept
recognition	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
3DV	B-General_Concept
originally	O
projected	O
the	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
to	O
be	O
released	O
before	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
2008	O
,	O
then	O
later	O
revised	O
the	O
projection	O
to	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2009	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
agreed	O
to	O
sell	O
its	O
assets	O
including	O
the	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
to	O
a	O
third	O
party	O
,	O
later	O
confirmed	O
to	O
be	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
these	O
reports	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
speculated	O
that	O
Microsoft	O
would	O
use	O
the	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
technology	O
for	O
a	O
motion-sensing	O
controller	O
system	O
for	O
the	B-Operating_System
Xbox	I-Operating_System
360	I-Operating_System
video	O
game	O
console	O
or	O
its	O
successor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
speculation	O
increased	O
in	O
the	O
month	O
leading	O
up	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
announcement	O
of	O
the	O
Kinect	B-Algorithm
3D	O
depth-sensing	O
device	O
at	O
the	O
2009	O
Electronic	O
Entertainment	O
Expo	O
,	O
during	O
which	O
leaked	O
information	O
about	O
that	O
device	O
prompted	O
frequent	O
comparisons	O
with	O
the	O
ZCam	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
