Flutter (American company)
{{short description|Gesture recognition technology company}}
{{Confused|Flutter (software)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Flutter Ltd.
| logo = Flutter logo.png
| logo_size = 200px
| type = Subsidiary
| founder = Navneet Dalal, Mehul Nariyawala
| industry = PC, Mobile, Internet, Gestures
| genre = Music, Photo, Video
| products = Flutter App
| owner = Alphabet Inc.
| parent = X
| homepage = {{URL|http://flutterapp.com}}
| foundation = {{Start date and age|2010}}
| location_city = San Francisco, California
| location_country = USA
}}
Flutter is a gesture recognition technology startup based in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded by Navneet Dalal and Mehul Nariyawala, the company received early-stage funding from Y Combinator and was acquired by Google in October 2013.
History
The company's first product, Flutter App, allowed users to control apps such as iTunes, Spotify, VLC, and QuickTime using hand gestures. The app utilizes gesture recognition technology that works with the webcam on a user's computer.{{cite news|last=Levy|first=Steven|title=Look Ma, No Trackpad! Flutter Lets You Control Your Mac With Gestures|url=https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/03/look-ma-no-trackpad/|access-date=27 March 2012|newspaper=Wired|date=27 March 2012}}{{cite news|last=Metz|first=Rachel|title=Hold Your Hand Up to Play Some Music|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/40031/|access-date=3 April 2012|newspaper=MIT Tech Review}} Instead of requiring separate hardware, such as Microsoft’s Kinect, Flutter makes use of the built-in webcam to recognize the gestures of a person's hands between one and six feet away.
The program does not require expensive hardware and is not designed for large movements, such as those used when playing video games—this limits its use to navigational duties. The company plans to achieve profit by licensing the technology to software companies that can then integrate Flutter into their own apps.{{cite web|url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/startup-flutter-brings-kinect-like-gesture-controls-to-your-mac/7813|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331000057/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/startup-flutter-brings-kinect-like-gesture-controls-to-your-mac/7813|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 31, 2012|title=Startup Flutter brings Kinect-like gesture controls to your Mac - ZDNet|first=Sean|last=Portnoy|website=ZDNet}}
Nariyawala stated: "Flutter wants to power the eyes of our devices—in the same way that Siri functions as the iPhone’s ears."{{cite web|title=Flutter: The YC Startup That Wants To Put The World's Webcams To Good Use|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/03/26/flutter-app-webcam-y-combinator/|work=TechCrunch|publisher=AOL Inc|access-date=8 October 2013|author=COLLEEN TAYLOR|date=26 March 2012}} Flutter was acquired by Google in October 2013 for US$40 million.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24380202 | title=Google buys human-gesture recognition start-up Flutter | work=BBC News | date=3 October 2013 | access-date=5 October 2013}}