Yesterday, Google very quiety acquired gesture-based company Flutter for an undisclosed amount. While Google made no mention of the acquisition, they did provide The Next Web with a statement, saying “We’re really impressed by the Flutter team’s ability to design new technology based on cutting-edge research. We look forward to supporting and collaborating on their research efforts at Google.”
Flutter has been touting its service as “Kinect for OS X”, and the video below gives a glimpse into what they’re all about. Essentially, the service uses your front-facing camera to identify gestures, which then relate to which app or service you’re using. It is opt-in, so those of us concerned about security or battery life need not worry too much.
While Flutter’s efforts so far have been with OS X and the laptop/desktop realm, Google offered no word on just how they’d be working Flutter into their current offerings. Recent acquisitions by Google have been adopted straight into existing services, as Waze did with Maps. Flutter, however, is nothing like any Google service or function we’re aware of.
The quick assumption is that this will find its way into Chrome OS, and that’s fair, but it may not tell the whole story. With Google continuing to merge functionality across Chrome and Android, there is no reason Flutter couldn’t find its way onto Android in the future. All devices seem to come with a front-facing camera, and that’s what Flutter relies on, so we’ll be excited to see just what Google does with the Flutter team under their wing.
