Hillcrest Labs

Hillcrest Labs identified a fundamental friction point in how people interacted with their televisions. ​​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌Remote controls had remained largely unchanged for decades—users sat on couches jabbing buttons to navigate menus, a process that became exponentially more tedious as on-screen options multiplied. The problem hit hardest for people trying to browse web content or search through expanding digital libraries, where traditional button-based navigation felt painfully slow. The inefficiency was measurable: users needed dozens of button presses to accomplish simple tasks that took seconds on computers. Existing alternatives—standard remotes, keyboard attachments, and early touchpad devices—all felt clunky or required users to hold unfamiliar objects while watching television. Hillcrest's motion-controlled remote offered an intuitive alternative, mimicking how people naturally pointed at objects. Early validation came when major television manufacturers and set-top box providers licensed their technology, signaling genuine market demand. The acquisition by CEVA in 2019 confirmed that their sensor processing approach had created lasting value in the television interface space.

Hillcrest Labs discovered genuine demand for motion-controlled remotes when early television manufacturers began requesting integration into their products unprompted. Rather than relying on survey responses about wanting gesture controls, the company measured real interest through prototype testing with actual TV viewers who abandoned traditional remotes mid-session to use the motion interface. Their first motion-controlled remote gained traction when major TV manufacturers licensed the technology, representing concrete commercial validation beyond stated preferences. The company's Kylo web browser for television proved demand existed when users spent measurable time navigating internet content on their TVs—behavior that previous attempts at TV browsing had failed to generate. Hillcrest tracked actual usage patterns showing people returned repeatedly to browse, rather than abandoning the feature after initial novelty wore off. Manufacturing partnerships and licensing agreements from established television companies provided the strongest evidence that demand was genuine and scalable, not merely theoretical interest from early adopters.