Palo Alto, Calif. — March 28, 2007 — Frost & Sullivan selected ImmerVision as the recipient of the North American Technology Innovation of the Year Award in the field of Panoramic Imaging for developing a revolutionary panomorph technology.
This controlled distortion optics technology is the only panoramic imaging technology in the world that can be added to existing standard analog and IP video surveillance systems to provide the ability to survey an entire 360-degrees without blind spots and viewing down-time. Significantly, this technology does not require sophisticated and expensive hardware or extra bandwidth like some of the older panoramic technologies.
ImmerVision’s panomorph technology can capture and navigate within a 360-degree area without distortion, which is particularly important in high traffic locations such as airports, mass transit, government and corporate offices, and even shopping malls and other public areas. The technology also provides quality vision to videoconferencing, automotive, medical applications such as endoscopy, aerospace and numerous other applications..
“The unique characteristics of ImmerVision’s technology stems from the company’s unconventional approach to create a better solution to surveillance which was not possible with the older technologies such as fisheye and mirror lenses that have problems with clarity, blind spots, distortion and/or resolution,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Miriam Nagel. “Instead of focusing on reducing distortion, ImmerVision’s R&D team focused on increasing distortion to capture a broader image area, then eliminated the distortion and improved the picture clarity with intelligent, advanced software.”
The closest competition, the fisheye lens, not only has the distortion and image clarity problems but it also requires an expensive, customized high-resolution video camera and extensive network support, making the fisheye lens more costly than the relatively simple and easy to install, ImmerVision lens.
ImmerVision is at the forefront of the market with about six years of fundamental and industrial R&D experience and six worldwide patents currently protecting the intellectual property (IP) behind its technology.
The company also has rights for the IPs of any lenses that have properties resembling the panomorph, and is actively building new IP in these areas, which will provide it with a key competitive advantage.
“ImmerVision markets its enabling panomorph lenses and imaging software and lenses worldwide to OEMs as a logical alternative to outdated traditional wide-angle and mirror lenses, and is building relationships with key market participants through production and distribution licenses,” notes Nagel. “The company is also taking a leading role in defining standards for this emerging market and in 2003 helped found the Open Panorama Consortium that is dedicated to the advancement of a panoramic image standard file format.”
For providing a revolutionary panomorph technology that can be added to existing video surveillance systems to enable 360-degree panoramic functionality and eliminate blind spots, clarity, distortion and/or resolution issues intrinsic to older panoramic imaging technologies, Frost & Sullivan presents ImmerVision with the prestigious Award for Technology Innovation of the Year.
Each year Frost & Sullivan presents this Award to a company that has carried out new research, which has resulted in innovation(s) that have or are expected to bring significant contributions to the industry in terms of adoption, change, and competitive posture. The Award recognizes the quality and depth of a company’s research and development program as well as the vision and risk-taking that enabled it to undertake such an endeavor.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.
About ImmerVision
ImmerVision was founded in France in 1999. The company then moved its operations to Quebec, Canada and has been headquartered in Montreal since 2003. This strategic location allowed the company to be positioned close to the centers of optical development in North America, namely Rochester, NY and Quebec City, Canada. The company is led by a seasoned management team including CEO Pascale Nini, who has a high profile background in management consulting and post M&A reorganization and Chief Commercial Officer Alessandro Gasparini. Company founder Jean-Claude Artonne serves as Chairman of the Board.
About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company’s industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics and demographics. For more information, visit www.awards.frost.com.
Contact:
Stacie Jones
210.247.2450
[email protected]
