Seeing Machines adds its tech to new Omnivision system

5th Jan 2023 15:10

(Sharecast News) - Driver monitoring technology specialist Seeing Machines announced the successful integration of its in-cabin monitoring system technology (ICMS) with Omnivision's 'OAX4600' system-on-chip (SoC) platform on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said the OAX4600, optimised by its 'Occula' neural processing unit (NPU), would provide automakers with a new solution to "meet and exceed" the regulatory requirements associated with the European Commission's General Safety Regulation, as well as Europe's New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) protocols.

Working together, Seeing Machines said it and Omnivision had integrated its embedded driver monitoring engine (e-DME) into the OAX4600 SoC silicon, which was specifically targeted toward the expanding automotive ICMS market.

The Seeing Machines e-DME makes use of the Occula NPU integrated in the OAX4600, to reduce the load on the on-board ARM processors, while accelerating the core tracking pipeline.

When paired with Omnivision's range of high-resolution, wide-field-of-view automotive RGB-IR sensors or near-infrared (NIR) sensors, the OAX4600 device, integrated with Seeing Machines' automotive ICMS solution, would enable what the board called a "powerful combination" of performance, cost and power efficiency in a form factor allowing it to be packaged into space-constrained areas of a vehicle.

"We are very happy to be working with Omnivision to bring our Occula NPU to the market integrated with the OAX4600 SoC," said chief executive officer Paul McGlone.

"Seeing Machines' software and hardware embedding capabilities, combined with Omnivision's automotive camera sensor and design expertise, are clearly demonstrated with this silicon.

"We are very confident that this will give our customers a highly optimised silicon platform that can target the driver as well as the wider interior sensing market."

At 1447 GMT, shares in Seeing Machines were down 2.19% at 6.51p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.