From movies to TV shows, there’s always that one scene where the detective needs to unblur an image of a license plate or the victim or something. This is when the computer geek gets called in; moving from screen to screen, typing vigorously, and voilà. One click and the image is clear, as if shot in a studio by an advanced HD camera, with an experienced cameraman behind the lens. Of course, in reality this is way more complicated to pull off, and even though our camera phones’ technology continues to improve, tech hasn’t caught up with the times, yet. A new Israeli startup thinks that with a touch of AI we can upgrade our imaging capabilities.
Not afraid of the more problematic sectors
Israeli startup Visionary.ai develops Image Signal Processing technologies, powered by AI algorithms, and meant to significantly upgrade our pictures and videos, but that’s not all. The Visionary product can also help sectors that require visual data collection; creating higher quality of imaging.
The company notes that its product will assist customers in collecting visual data - pictures and videos - in less than optimal conditions, such as dark and blurred images, harsh weather, in motion, OCR, limited exposure, and more.
We asked CEO and co-founder, Oren Debbi, what’s so special about Visionary’s technology? Isn’t this area kind of covered already by Google, Samsung, Adobe, and others?
According to Debbi, the company’s uniqueness stems from its ISP, the only one focusing on AI: “Google and Apple use their own AI and ISP, a less advanced version, and they also don’t really market these capabilities to anyone. Our agnostic system works with all camera types, and our superior technology helps us achieve better results. The research we’ve done has proven that our ISP shows far superior performance than currently accepted in the industry.”
Aren’t you worried that Apple and Google won’t just add these capabilities?
Debbi: “Technological breakthroughs like ours aren’t easily copied. They demand deep knowledge and experience in the industry, significant funding, and a team of leading AI and image processing experts.”
Obviously, this tech is valuable for the national security, facial recognition sector, etc. Aren’t you afraid of revisiting AnyVision’s troubles, which made tech giants like Microsoft nervous of working with a startup in that industry?
Debbi: “We’re extremely excited to collaborate with companies in the national security industries, but at the same time we also work with customers in the retail, electronics, and automotive spheres. Our technology significantly improves products like that of AnyVision. Security systems utilizing our product will enjoy improved imaging in low-light conditions, more accurate facial recognition, license recognition in harsh weather.”
Visionary.ai was founded by Debbi and CTO Yoav Taieb. The company very recently secured $4.5 million in Seed funding. The round was led by Ibex Investors, with participation from Spring Ventures, Capital Point, and additional investors. Visionary states that the round will help further develop its technology, as well as expanding the R&D team in Israel.
