Mar 4 2015
Based on its recent analysis of the augmented reality application developer engines market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Infinity Augmented Reality, Inc. (InfinityAR) with the 2015 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation Leadership.
InfinityAR has clearly emerged as a leading innovator in the augmented reality application developer engine space with its low-cost and simple hardware, which provides product developers a balance between price and performance.
Conventional AR solutions rely on 3D depth sensors that actively project light onto the world. These sensors demand a lot of power due to the active projection and the required computations. In comparison, by using a passive, natural stereoscopic camera and efficient computer vision algorithms that do not require the entire CPU to process data, InfinityAR's technology requires only one-tenth the power needed by conventional technologies.
Similarly, InfinityAR's peer solutions often need separate hardware, such as 3D cameras or additional sensors, for light and motion tracking. InfinityAR addresses the need for low-power, affordable sensors for 3D scene representation with a pair of standard VGA 2D cameras placed next to each other as a stereoscopic solution. This innovative approach helps deliver the same functionalities as conventional technologies, while using fewer hardware components.
"The unique InfinityAR Engine can be scaled to cater to advanced functionalities in various product lines," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Swapnadeep Nayak. "It provides image-matching capabilities to accurately identify the same point within an image frame from different locations at different points of time. This feature also facilitates the provision of more personalized content, as obtaining the position of the wearable device in 3D space is no longer a hindrance for the developers."
InfinityAR's functionality finds usage in wearable devices, mobile, smart TV, connected car, and tablet markets. The solution can be applied to diverse verticals, including online gaming; the tourism industry to allow tourists to first virtually experience their preferred destination; and in retail to better acquaint buyers with a product's look, features, and dimensions, without seeing or handling the physical product.
The physical object digitalization module incorporated in the InfinityAR engine aids superior simulation of real-world settings. Through a dense stereo-matching technique, the technology can accurately understand the environment type, transparent or reflective, and the light source around the object.
"While conventional solutions only incorporate voice recognition technology, InfinityAR incorporates machine-learning algorithms for advanced control-and-gesture natural user interaction," noted Swapnadeep. "This technology module enables users to not only interact with virtual objects through gestures, but also to control virtual, augmented reality objects through direct contact; for instance, handling and moving virtual objects in 3D space by hand."
In recognition of its efforts to advance augmented reality technology, InfinityAR has earned the 2015 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated uniqueness in developing and leveraging new technologies, which significantly impacts both the functionality and the customer value of the new products and applications. The award lauds the high R&D spend toward innovation, its relevance to the industry, and the positive impact on brand perception.
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 to identify best practices in the industry.