www.seeingmachines.com
Seeing Machines is an award winning technology company with a focus on vision based human machine interfaces. Seeing Machines technology platform is based on world-leading computer vision processing technologies that allow machines to see and track human faces and certain facial features. These technologies enable the development of new cutting edge products and applications, ranging from devices that improve road safety & save lives, to those that help manage eye disease and prevent loss of eyesight.
The company’s focus is on deploying its computer vision technologies, worldwide, in:
- Driver/operator safety products for transport markets through the DSS product range;
- The TrueField Analyzer® (TFA) product for vision testing devices for healthcare markets;
- New products in a range of markets including sports, entertainment, robotics and security through our faceAPI product; and
- Human performance measurement through our faceLAB® product.
Seeing Machines shares lifted by faceAPI 3D display deal
Seeing Machines (LON:SEE) revealed today it has signed a deal with a Chinese company developing glasses-free 3D displays.
The news reminded investors that the business is not just about the DSS driver monitoring equipment that is being rolled out to the mining industry.
The strategy of the group is also based on licence agreements for other technologies in its portfolio.
The stock rose 15 per cent to 3.75 pence in reaction to this morning’s news that Seeing Machines signed a production licence for faceAPI with Shenzhen Super Perfect Optics Ltd (SuperD).
The cutting edge Seeing Machines technology is a suite of image-processing modules created specifically for tracking and understanding faces and facial features.
The deal shows that following the string of announcements bearing testament to the rapid success of its DSS systems, the software licensing business is now also hitting its stride.
The company said it has been working together with Shenzen-based SuperD for approximately 12 months during the development of SuperD's new glasses-free 3D display solutions which include Seeing Machines' faceAPI.
Top branded laptop computer makers showcased the SuperD glasses-free 3D solution incorporating the faceAPI technology at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January this year and CeBIT in Hannover earlier this month.
The first consumer products are expected to be available in mid 2011, and volumes should begin to build as manufacturers roll out 3D products.
Under the production licence deal, see Seeing Machines will receive a royalty for every laptop computer, computer monitor or all-in-one-PC product that contains the SuperD glasses-free 3D display solution incorporating faceAPI.
SuperD supplies screen and computer manufacturers.
The use of faceAPI in SuperD’s devices enables a 3D experience for users without the requirement of 3D glasses. FaceAPI tracks the position of the head of a viewer in real-time via the computer’s webcam, which in turn allows the computer to instantly adjust the 3D stereoscopic images for the viewer.
Edison Investment Research published a note today in response to the news, saying the faceAPI deal has the potential to provide Seeing Machines with a stronger recurring revenue stream in the form of software royalty revenues, which will help temper the “lumpy DSS hardware revenues” on which the group has been heavily dependent.
Chief executive Nick Cerneaz said this morning: "Our faceAPI commercialisation strategy is to license the product to developers and manufacturers of high volume and value products. This new production licence with SuperD is a significant market validation of both the product itself and our business model.
“We are very excited to be working with SuperD at the birth of this new imaging modality, and we look forward to further enhancing and enabling faceAPI's 3D visualisation capabilities as we continue to develop the product itself and its markets. This agreement springboards the faceAPI business into consumer-scale licence volumes, and underlines the capabilities of the technology to leverage significant licensing revenue into the future."
SuperD vice president for product marketing Johnny Wang was cited as saying: “We now look forward to the deployment of our glasses-free 3D solution incorporating the faceAPI, where we expect the technology to power literally millions of devices from laptop computers to monitors to all-in-one-PC products produced by some of the biggest name manufacturers in the market."
