Optical and imaging technology provider Immervision today announced the humanoid robot and development kit JOYCE. The Montreal-based company stated that it hopes the robotics and computer vision communities can help upgrade JOYCE in a series of international challenges and create new applications that were "previously impossible for humans or other robots."

Immervision has been developing and licensing wide-angle lenses and imaging software for artificial intelligence and machine vision for twenty years. The company, which has approximately 25 employees, stated that its technology is used in industries such as aerospace, automotive, robotics, security, and consumer products.

Immervision Executive Vice President of Operations and Chief Business Officer Allesandro Gasparini said: "We are the largest optical design company not affiliated with a lens manufacturer." "We have innovated in optics and image processing, from glass to glass, from lens to data display."

He told Robotics Business Review: "We absorb experience from certain industries and apply it to others, and we license patents." "We collaborate with companies such as Qualcomm and Intel."

The camera comes with a development kit

Immervision President and CEO Pascale Nini said: "We are pleased to launch the industry's first collaborative computer vision humanoid robot." "[It] is designed for intelligent vision. Thanks to state-of-the-art freeform panoramic lens design, its picture-in-data technology fuses data from multiple sensors into real vision, achieving a 360-degree spherical field of view. It includes image processing algorithms, an API, and a programming interface, allowing the addition of other sensors and software, such as MEMS, microphones, ultrasonic sensors, and other machine learning and AI algorithms."

Immervision stated that JOYCE includes three calibrated ultra-wide-angle panoramic cameras capable of capturing and observing a 2D hemisphere, a 3D stereo hemisphere, or a complete 360 x 360 sphere.

The robot's picture-in-data technology allows each video frame to be enriched with data from various sensors. The company stated that these can provide contextual information for AI and neural networks, computer vision, and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms to help enhance its visual perception capabilities.

Developers, universities, and technology companies can use the development kit to add additional sensors, software, and algorithms to enhance JOYCE's awareness and understanding of the environment in addressing computer vision challenges.

"We can't wait to collaborate with the brightest minds in the fields of computer vision and artificial intelligence to explore cutting-edge solutions for industry-specific challenges," said Nini. "When you reach for an object, you may not realize that your sense of touch is closely related to your vision. JOYCE is connected to the Internet, with the goal of focusing on community development."

JOYCE Challenges and Use Cases

Immervision encourages members of the computer vision community to contribute their technologies to upgrade JOYCE in a series of international challenges scheduled for release in 2021. The company is also seeking partners.

"For example, a partner of Immovision is providing time-of-flight sensors, and we are looking to add microprocessors," said Alain Paquin, long-time entrepreneur at Immervision and project lead for JOYCE. "Before the first challenge, we will also equip it with microphones and other sensors."

Gasparini said: "Unlike robots from other brands, we ask the community to find the best solutions because we want to create new intellectual property and cross-industry pollination." "I received the latest Roomba and was happy to see it operating. Although it has many sensors and SLAM, it still cannot understand when it hits a chair leg and needs to find a path around it."

He added: "We are looking for the best way to perceive more intelligently." "Humans can see 210 degrees, but robots can see 360 degrees with 3D image reconstruction and 180-degree stereo vision. Developers can also add thermal or gas analysis sensors."

"Challenge participants will be able to share their applications, and winners will have their sensors installed in actual robots," said Paquin. "JOYCE is a humanoid entity and a hub for bringing solutions. It is a way to personify machine technology to understand what you see is what you get. We are looking for engineers to combine perspectives on healthcare, mobility, and the Internet of Things."

Can humanoid robots use vision to move around? "Currently, the first step is to move its head," Paquin admitted. "Eventually, it will walk, but this will be done in partnership."

Immervision stated that JOYCE can guide the development of smart home devices, autonomous vehicles, and precision agriculture. The company said it can also improve medical diagnostic levels and help firefighters locate people through smoke.