Canesta was a fabless semiconductor company that was founded in April 1999, by Cyrus Bamji, Abbas Rafii, and Nazim Kareemi.

[1][2] The company manufactured CMOS-based single chip 3D sensors, which can be used as part of input systems for electronic devices.

[3] The company launched publicly at PC Forum in 2002, where it also announced its CMOS-based single chip 3D image sensing technology using the time of flight principle.

[15][16] On October 29, 2010, it was announced that Microsoft would acquire Canesta for an undisclosed amount, stating that their partnership would assist in the development of natural user interfaces and spread the adoption of their technology into a wider array of products.

This photo collection structure is substantially immune to CMOS surface defects that ordinarily adversely affect time of flight operation.