Ed Fries Joins Canesta Board of Directors
February 03, 2010 12:03 PM Eastern Time
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Canesta, Inc, announced today that Ed Fries has joined
the board of directors of this Silicon Valley 3-D sensor pioneer. Fries is filling a new board position.
“Canesta represents a very unique opportunity,” said Fries. “It will fundamentally change the relationship between
computers and other consumer devices and the world around them. I am excited to join the board of such an
important company.”
Canesta is the inventor and pioneer of tiny chips that sense the world around them in true three dimensions. The
technology makes possible “the other side of 3-D”, where, for example, the user of a consumer electronic product
such as a computer, television, media center, or other entertainment system can use “3-D input” or “natural
interfaces” to operate a device remotely, with hand gestures or postures. Because Canesta’s technology allows this
capability at mass market pricing, the company recently received $16 million in additional financing (see “New
Strategic Investors Signal the importance of 3-D Natural Interfaces to the Future of PCs and other
Consumer Devices”http://canesta.com/corporate/press-releases/102109).
Fries, 45, joined Microsoft in 1986, and spent the next ten years as one of the founding developers of both Excel
and Word. For the next eight years, he helped to define the new era of interactive entertainment and created
Microsoft Game Studios in the process. In 2004, Fries retired as a Microsoft vice president to focus on serving as a
board member, advisor and consultant to a broad range of technology, entertainment, and media companies. In
2007 Fries launched his own startup, FigurePrints, an innovative company that uses 3-D color printing technology to
bring video game characters to life.
“Ed brings a new perspective and diverse experience in entertainment. He is able to advise Canesta as our game-
changing technology begins appearing in 3-D