Advanced 360-degree camera systems enhance awareness in military applications
Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology-based economic development, today announced that it has made an investment of $1 million in RemoteReality Corporation (RemoteReality) through its Eli Whitney Fund. This investment is part of a recent Series C round of funding, also involving Chart Venture Partners, Kuwait Holdings and an individual investor. The company has recently relocated its headquarters from Westborough, Mass., to Putnam, Conn. and is actively recruiting high-level engineers to join the company.
RemoteReality develops cutting-edge, ultra-wide-angle camera systems for military, homeland security and commercial customers. Its core business today is selling 360-degree cameras to the military, primarily the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). To date the company has received more than $10M of contracts from the DoD to advance its technology.
The company’s video systems deliver real-time, 360-degree situational awareness to the crews of combat vehicles, Navy ships and submarines, and to the operators of robotic platforms. The 360-degree visual information from these systems greatly enhances the awareness of users, increasing both their mission effectiveness and safety.
“RemoteReality welcomes the new Series C investment, and will use the new funds to accelerate the company’s growth”, said Denny McGinn (VADM USN Ret.), the company’s chairman and CEO. “We continue to see strong demand for our products in the military market, and we plan to expand our focus over time to include mission-critical surveillance applications, as well as commercial applications.”
The company designs optics, software and video camera systems that constantly cover a full 360-degree scene with no moving parts. A single RemoteReality camera can replace multiple traditional cameras, resulting in simpler and more cost effective surveillance systems. Video from the camera can be simultaneously viewed by multiple users, each of which can view a different part of the scene without affecting others.
RemoteReality’s systems are highly capable and cost-effective solutions for mission-critical video applications on armored vehicles and maritime platforms. The military market for advanced vision systems is expected to grow significantly over the next several years as the military’s desire for safety, loss avoidance and tactical superiority increases.
Other non-military markets for the technology include harbor and near-shore surveillance from ships and small boats, advanced video conferencing, perimeter security at non-defense sites, and commercial security applications.
RemoteReality currently holds five patents, has one patent application pending, and it holds exclusive worldwide patent licenses from Columbia University.
“We are very excited that RemoteReality’s technology has the potential to change the way real-time video surveillance is performed,” said Peter Longo, president and executive director of CI. “The fact that this technology could help save the lives of military personnel in the field makes it extremely valuable. We are delighted that RemoteReality has chosen Connecticut as its new home and look forward to working with the company to help it achieve its goals.”
Dan Wagner, CI director, investments, will represent CI on RemoteReality’s board of directors.
About Connecticut Innovations Inc. Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public organization dedicated to driving a vibrant, entrepreneurial, technology-based economy in Connecticut. CI stimulates high-tech growth by investing in early-stage Connecticut technology companies, university/industry research collaborations and technology transfer and collaborating with government, business, nonprofit and academic organizations to advance technology growth and promote public policies consistent with CI’s mission. For more information on CI, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.
About RemoteReality Corporation RemoteReality designs ultra-wide-area camera systems that dramatically improve situational awareness in military and homeland security applications. Our products deliver real-time wide-area visual information to users, improving their awareness and decision making, while reducing system cost and complexity compared to traditional video technologies. Our omni-directional camera technology spans both visual and thermal infrared (LWIR and MWIR) spectra, enabling us to provide solutions with continuous 360-degree coverage during both day and night. For security applications our intelligent object tracking software automates the analysis of the video, issuing alarms and automatically controlling a slaved device (pan-tilt-zoom camera or weapons system) to follow potential threats. More information can be found atwww.remotereality.com.
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