Artificial Intelligence
Miovision attracts $120 million in latest funding round
KITCHENER, Ontario, Jan. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Miovision, a Canadian company using computer vision, artificial intelligence and advanced modelling to help cities modernize their approach to traffic management, today announced it has completed a $120 CAD million minority funding round, led by TELUS Ventures. This funding will help Miovision become the platform that cities across the globe will use to measure, manage, and optimize traffic congestion and safety.
The TELUS Ventures investment was supported by a syndicate of investors led by McRock Capital – which invests exclusively in industrial IoT companies – and includes both new investors and existing investors who chose to increase their support for the company.
Funds raised from this round will allow Miovision to accelerate the growth of its smart traffic platform, hiring the talent needed to quickly develop new product capabilities and bring them to market. The company aims to hire more than 100 new employees in 2020, increasing its Canadian workforce by 50 per cent.
“This funding round will help Miovision realize its goal of becoming the platform by which cities everywhere measure, manage and optimize traffic,” said Miovision co-founder and CEO Kurtis McBride. “I’m proud that our investors – including a world-leading communications company like TELUS – are as excited about our vision as we are and want to be a part of it.”
As part of its investment, TELUS will also become the preferred wireless provider for Miovision worldwide. Leveraging TELUS’ dedicated IoT network, purpose-built for IoT connected devices, Miovision-equipped traffic signals will allow cities to remotely access, analyse, and action data generated at intersections.
“TELUS is taking bold steps to improve the lives of Canadians by investing in Smart City technology that will connect and empower municipalities to build stronger, safer communities,” said Rich Osborn, Managing Partner, TELUS Ventures. “With our investment and Miovision’s technology, we can further advance our goal of enabling remarkable human outcomes for Canadians – and citizens around the world – by easing traffic congestion, reducing carbon emissions and making intersections safer for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.”
As part of its investment, TELUS will hold two positions on Miovision’s Board of Directors joining existing Board members, including: McRock’s Whitney Rockley, and early investors MacKinnon, Bennett & Co’s Ken MacKinnon and former BlackBerry Vice President, Strategic Alliances Chris Wormald.
Miovision was established in 2005, bringing to market a portable product that accurately gathers and analyses traffic data. In 2017, Miovision launched a smart traffic platform allowing cities to modernize their existing analog traffic signals by adding connectivity and video-based, multimodal traffic measurement and analysis. Miovision’s suite of products and services help cities to better understand, manage, and optimize traffic; reduce congestion and emissions; while improving traffic safety.
As urban areas grow, the pressing need to better manage traffic has helped Miovision achieve a revenue CAGR of 37.4 per cent over the last 10 years. Its products have processed more than 23 million hours of traffic video, counting more than nine billion vehicles in the process.
RBC Capital Markets acted as Miovision’s exclusive private placement agent for this round of investment – Miovision’s fourth. Three previous rounds of investment totalled $45 million.
About Miovision
Miovision is helping build tomorrow’s smart cities by transforming the way traffic networks are managed today. Backed by the world’s most advanced traffic AI, Miovision’s innovations in traffic planning and operations have made it possible for cities to improve the transportation experience for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians since 2005. With offices in Kitchener, Canada and Cologne, Germany, Miovision serves over 17,000 municipalities worldwide. For more information, visit www.miovision.com.
About TELUS Ventures
As the strategic investment arm of TELUS Corporation, TELUS Ventures was founded in 2001 and is one of Canada’s most active corporate venture capital funds. TELUS Ventures has invested in over 75 companies since inception with a focus on innovative technologies such as Digital Health, IoT, AI and Security. TELUS Ventures is an active investment partner and supports its portfolio companies through mentoring; exposure to TELUS’ extensive network of business and co-investment partners; access to TELUS’ technologies and broadband networks; and by actively driving new solutions across the TELUS ecosystem.
Media Contacts: Tony Florio Miovision (519) 513-2407 x290 Jill Yetman TELUS PR Team 416-992-2639
Artificial Intelligence
Elevate Your Virtual Reality Experience with KIWI design RGB Vertical Stand, Now Available on Meta’s Website
LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Top-tier VR accessories provider KIWI design has launched its latest product, the RGB Vertical Stand. This Meta-authorized accessory, designed to deepen users’ immersion in the metaverse, is now available on the official Meta website.
“KIWI design’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of virtual reality accessories takes another leap forward with the introduction of our new products,” said Ray,the CEO of KIWI design. “We are always dedicated to bringing innovative upgrades to VR device accessories, with the goal of enriching users’ virtual reality experiences.”
The newly launched RGB Vertical Stand features a user-friendly modular design with push-in assembly, making it easy to set up and use. It is compatible with Meta Quest 3, Quest 2, and Quest Pro, ensuring widespread usability. With a magnetic USB Type-C connector, it provides an effortless way to charge and display your headset. Users can also customize their display with 16 pre-set ambient multicolor RGB light options.
With VR technology constantly evolving, users are seeking more immersive experiences. As a leading manufacturer of VR accessories, KIWI design is committed to enhancing the user experience, through unique product designs. Since its establishment in 2015, KIWI design has acquired over 100 patents and has a diverse product lineup, including head straps, facial interfaces, VR stands, charging accessories, and controller grip covers.
KIWI design has also actively participated in the Made for Meta program, which is provided by Meta to strengthen its partnerships with leading brands to deliver accessories that enhance Meta products with more choice and a richer experience for everyone. KIWI design’s participation in this program validates its high-quality design standards.
The RGB Vertical Stand for Meta Quest 3, Quest 2, and Quest Pro and another specially designed authorized charging dock for the Meta Oculus Quest 2 are now available for purchase on both KIWI design’s website and Amazon. For more information about our brand and products, please visit our website and follow KIWI design on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and TikTok.
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Artificial Intelligence
WIO Taps Gracenote to Revolutionize Television Broadcast Reporting
LOS ANGELES, May 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — WIO LLC, parent company of the global TV broadcast airings platform, WIOpro™, has announced a new strategic agreement with Gracenote, the global content data business unit of Nielsen, to address the longstanding challenge of accurately tracking and collecting music royalties generated by broadcast television and digital programming, With this agreement, WIO will integrate Gracenote TV program metadata and show airings into its WIOpro™ (“When’s It On – Professional”) platform enabling performance rights organizations, copyright management organizations and other entities to better monitor broadcast schedules and identify when royalties have been earned.
By integrating Gracenote historical program data into WIOpro’s new LookBack™ feature, WIO is enhancing its reporting capabilities and empowering Collection Societies, Rights Management Companies and the royalty-earning community to more easily monitor and export broadcast airings and better understand collections opportunities.
“At WIO, we are committed to empowering collection societies and copyright holders around the world with our platform tools and unprecedented access to the best and most accurate television broadcast and streaming data available,” said Shawn Pierce, Co-Founder and CEO of WIO LLC. “We have enjoyed an incredible relationship with Gracenote for 10 years. With the solidification of this agreement, we are able to deliver an unrivaled dataset to the royalty and residual community in a way that has not been offered before.” said Adam Shafron, Co-Founder and CTO of WIO LLC.
“WIO’s platform developed to solve the difficult matter of royalty tracking only becomes more powerful based on the integration of accurate, timely and comprehensive Gracenote metadata,” said Scott Monahan, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Gracenote. “We look forward to the combination of WIOpro’s technology and Gracenote’s program metadata delivering on the promise of transforming music royalty collection so that rights holders can be fairly compensated for use of their work.”
WIO and Gracenote will be at the MusicBiz 2024 conference in Nashville, TN May 13 – 16. Contact Dave Pelman, COO of WIO LLC at [email protected] for media queries or to book an appointment for a product demonstration.
About WIO:WIO is a technology company dedicated to providing broadcast television and digital programming data tailored specifically for the royalty and residual collection industry. Through its platform WIOpro (wiopro.com), users obtain access to real-time broadcast insights, reporting and curated data delivery.
About Gracenote:Gracenote is the content data business unit of Nielsen providing entertainment metadata, connected IDs and related offerings to the world’s leading creators, distributors and platforms. Gracenote enables advanced content navigation and discovery capabilities helping individuals easily connect to the TV shows, movies, music, podcasts and sports they love while delivering powerful content analytics making complex business decisions simpler.
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Artificial Intelligence
IDTechEx Explores Printed Electronics in Electrified and Autonomous Mobility
BOSTON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Electrification, autonomy, and vehicle ownership saturation are causing a technological revolution in the automotive sector. These automotive meta-trends are driving drastic changes in electronic component requirements and present a high-volume opportunity for printed electronics to capitalize on.
Historically, printed electronics technologies have nurtured a close relationship with the automotive sector, with printed force sensors pioneering passenger safety through seat occupancy and seatbelt detection. As such, the automotive sector continues to represent the lion’s share of the global printed and flexible sensor market, which IDTechEx’s report on the topic evaluates as worth US$421M in 2024. However, if the automotive sector is to continue to be a reliable revenue stream, printed electronics technology providers must adapt to address the emerging technical challenges facing future mobility.
Augmenting autonomous vehicles with printed electronics
As vehicle autonomy levels advance, the increasing number and distribution of spatial mapping sensors required will need continuous performance improvements to ensure passenger safety. Emerging printed electronics technologies can augment these sensors, extending detection bandwidth and maximizing reliability during operation.
Transparent conductive films (TCFs) are being developed to heat and defog LiDAR sensor panels, ensuring the function is unperturbed by external environmental conditions. Properties such as high transparency and low haze are important for defogging. These properties can be easily tuned using the wide variety of material options available for TCFs, including carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires.
IDTechEx identifies printed heating as a leading application of transparent conductive films. This is attributed to diminishing growth prospects in capacitive touch sensing applications. Innovations in thin film coating techniques have enabled indium tin oxide (ITO) to dominate touch sensing applications, all but displacing TCFs completely.
Looking towards the future, printed electronics technologies could play a more active role in advanced autonomous driving. Emerging semiconductive materials, such as quantum dots, printed directly onto conventional silicon image sensor arrays can extend detection range and sensitivity deeper into the infrared region. Augmenting existing image sensor technology with enhanced spectral range could facilitate the competition of hybrid silicon sensors with established InGaAs detectors.
Printed sensors promise granularized battery health monitoring
Vehicle electrification is driving the sustained development and evolution of electronic management systems, particularly in the battery and electric drivetrain. A strong market pull exists for technologies that increase vehicle efficiency, range, and lifetime while reducing recharge times.
Printed pressure and temperature sensors measure battery cell swelling and thermal profiles, providing granularized physical data that can be used to optimize battery deployment and recharging. Moreover, hybrid printed sensors that combine integrated printed heating elements promise a solution to actively address battery temperature. IDTechEx estimates that printed sensor-enabled battery deployment and charging optimizations could be worth up to US$3000 in savings per vehicle.
There remains uncertainty about whether electrification trends will correspond to increased demand for physical sensors in electric vehicle batteries, owing to the utility of existing electronic readouts for managing deployment. Virtual sensors also pose a threat, where AI-enabled software models interpret data to predict and emulate physical sensor functions without the need for discreet components. However, emerging regulations regarding safety and sensor redundancy will likely favor measurable metrics and see automotive makers continue to adopt physical sensors. IDTechEx predicts that virtual sensors are unlikely to displace their physical counterparts – so long as low-cost sensors remain widely available.
Embedding printed electronics in the car of the future
IDTechEx predicts that global car sales will saturate over the next decade, with automakers increasingly looking for premium features and technical innovations to differentiate themselves from the competition. In-cabin technologies will be highly desirable – as the location where passengers reside and interact with the vehicle the most.
Lighting elements are emerging as a prominent differentiator, described as “the new chrome” by Volkswagen’s chief designer. The use of in-mold structural electronics (IMSE) enables the integration of embedded lighting elements using existing manufacturing processes. 3D electronics technologies are intrinsically attractive for automotive integration, as functional layers are conformable and lightweight while easily embedded within existing aesthetic elements.
Despite strong tailwinds, the adoption of in-mold electronics within automotive interiors has been sluggish. This is attributed to the challenges of meeting automotive qualification requirements, as well as stiff competition with less sophisticated alternatives such as applying functional films to thermoformed parts. Nevertheless, momentum is building, with technology providers like Tactotek partnering with Mercedes-Benz and Stallantis to progress the automotive validation of IMSE to TRL5.
Outlook for printed electronics in automotive applications
Just as printed force sensors heralded early passenger safety systems, printed electronics technology is poised to underpin next-generation innovations for the car of the future. But this time, the competition will be stiff. Critical cost requirements must be met, while desirable new functionality must address existing challenges faced by manufacturers. Printed electronics can play a role in supporting emerging electrified and autonomous mobility, such as augmenting LiDAR sensors or optimizing electric battery deployment. Demand for technologies that enhance passenger experience and vehicle aesthetics will continue to grow, and printed electronics can supply low-power, lightweight lighting solutions for these.
Sustained engagement from tier suppliers and manufacturers continues to make the automotive sector key to printed sensor market growth opportunities – a total market IDTechEx predicts will reach US$960M by 2034. Strong partnerships between material providers and printed electronics technology providers are complementary to those of the highly vertically integrated automotive value chains between tier suppliers and OEMs. Leveraging printing techniques to provide solutions that slot into existing manufacturing processes and designs will be crucial. In the medium term, the printed electronics technologies most likely to realize revenue potential are those that can adapt to service emerging challenges already known to the automotive industry.
For more information on IDTechEx’s research on this topic, please see their report, “Printed and Flexible Sensors 2024-2034: Technologies, Players, Markets”. Downloadable sample pages are available for this report.
For the full portfolio of printed and flexible electronics market research from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/PE.
About IDTechEx:
IDTechEx provides trusted independent research on emerging technologies and their markets. Since 1999, we have been helping our clients to understand new technologies, their supply chains, market requirements, opportunities and forecasts. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.IDTechEx.com.
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