START-UPS

7 start-ups taking part in Intel’s Edge AI incubator

7 May 2020

A white robot with a smile on its face.

Stevie the Robot, a robotics solution developed by Akara Robotics. Image: Akara Robotics

Akara Robotics, Mindseed and Provizio are among the start-ups participating in this year’s Intel Edge AI incubator, which aims to help firms integrate computer vision into their tech solutions.

This week, we take a look at seven start-ups taking part in Intel’s 2020 Edge AI incubator, which is held in association with Dublin City University’s Talent Garden.

The start-up incubator first took place in Dublin in 2019, hosting a diverse group of tech companies that were finding ways to integrate computer vision technology into their solutions, with the help of the Intel Movidius team. Among last year’s participants were some well-known start-ups based in Ireland and further afield, including bee monitoring business ApisProtect and project management camera service Evercam.

This year, there’s a similarly interesting line-up with plenty of Irish companies. However, as with many events taking place around the world at the moment, Intel’s Edge AI incubator is set to be held online so organisers and participants can follow Covid-19 distancing measures.

Akara Robotics

Akara Robotics, a start-up that derives its name from the Irish words for ‘my friend’ (a chara), is a spin-out of Trinity College Dublin’s School of Mechanical Engineering. The start-up’s technology aims to empower those working in the healthcare sector with the help of robots.

Akara Robotics was co-founded by Conor McGinn, Eamonn Bourke, Niamh Donnelly, Cian Donovan and Michael Cullinan. The team developed its technology with the help of Movidius, Luxonis, the HSE, Trinity College Dublin and the University of Plymouth.

The start-up is perhaps best known for developing Stevie, a socially assistive robot designed to interact with people in care homes. In October 2019, Stevie featured on the cover of Time magazine, described as “the robot that could change the senior care industry”.

More recently, Akara developed Violet, a robot that can be deployed to quickly sterilise hospitals using UV light. The team is working with the HSE to roll out the solution in Irish hospitals during the current pandemic.

Fantasmo

Fantasmo was launched in 2015 by Jameson Detweiler and Ryan Measel. The start-up began by creating a decentralised map for robots and augmented reality, but later pivoted to providing a camera-powered GPS replacement for scooter and bike-sharing companies.

Fantasmo’s solution relies on a camera and a data connection to identify if bikes and scooters are being used or parked in off-limit areas. It does not require satellite, beacon or radio structures, as GPS does.

While mobility is the start-up’s current focus, Fantasmo said that its technology can be applied to robotics, the auto industry and smartphones.

iTremor

Developed on the back of several years of research in Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital, iTremor is a solution developed by Head Diagnostics that can be used to detect whether an individual has sustained a concussion.

Led by David Van Zuydam in collaboration with Trinity inventors Dr Gerard Boyle and Dr Mindaugas Norkus, the team aims to offer pitch-side concussion assessment in record time. The company measures ocular microtremors (OMTs), which are tiny high-frequency tremors that are present in the eyes, in order to detect a concussion within three seconds.

The Irish start-up showcased its solution at the Enterprise Ireland Big Ideas exhibition in 2018, before it went on to be recognised as an Enterprise Ireland high potential start-up.

Mindseed

Mindseed is an Irish space technology consultancy that was founded in Dublin in 2011. The firm assists innovative companies in securing funding, accessing potential markets, building prototypes and developing full-scale commercial technology implementations, while offering long-term scaling and road mapping support.

The company is led by CEO Mark McCarville and CTO Dr Patricia Moore, with the belief that space technology is becoming democratised and accessible, and can now be developed “by anyone, anywhere”.

Some of the start-up’s clients and partners include the European Space Agency, DCU Alpha, Taoglas, Geological Survey Ireland, Davra and Druid Software.

Provizio

Provizio has developed a proprietary accident prevention technology (APT) platform that aims to reduce the human error that causes the majority of road deaths. The start-up was founded by a team with experience in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Provizio’s solution combines vision sensors and machine learning to help drivers see through obstacles and to detect wider and further hazards in all-weather conditions, while also applying predictive analytics to prevent accidents.

The Limerick-headquartered start-up, which also has offices in Belfast and Pittsburgh, was founded in 2019 by former Arralis CEO Barry Lunn. Provizio is currently taking applications for a beta programme, allowing customers to test out its APT on driving platforms.

Reivr

Based in Maynooth, Co Kildare, Reivr has developed a real-time locating system (RTLS) designed for the global hospital market. The technology relies on a network of fusion sensors, which create a 3D model of the physical environment and thereafter monitors the movement of ID-tagged assets and patients in its virtual field of view.

The sensors interact using a mesh network protocol over the facility’s existing Wi-Fi, sending low-level, anonymised data throughout the system. When objects move between sensors, they transfer re-recognition data to each other to ensure smooth handover and continuity.

The start-up’s aim is to remove the frustrations and costs associated with hospital workflows, by ending extended searches for equipment, keeping vulnerable patients safe and supporting equipment procurement decision-making based upon usage data to predict demand.

Transpoco

Based at Dublin City University’s Alpha Innovation campus, Transpoco is a fleet management and vehicle tracking solution. The telematics firm has implemented its tech in more than 60 different countries.

By providing fleet managers with its telematics technology, Transpoco can help businesses monitor operations, fuel and maintenance, while locating assets, improving compliance and reducing misuse of vehicles.

The company was set up in 2004, but it launched a new product entitled SynX in 2016 after several years of research and development supported by Enterprise Ireland. SynX uses cloud computing to transfer data from a driver’s fuel card, with the goal of helping fleet managers access business intelligence, rather than just the basic features of GPS.

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Kelly Earley was a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com