2016 is a year when VR becomes the mega-trend in the consumer-level market. The three major manufacturers HTC, Sony and Oculus have launched VR game devices. So far, they are still competing and they have a place.
At the technical level, the three major manufacturers' ideas for VR space positioning are also different: HTC uses expensive laser positioning solutions, Sony uses traditional binocular camera solutions, and Oculus innovatively uses a monocular camera solution. In contrast, the domestic market is also the mainstream, and there are few companies using monocular solutions. Camsense is one of them. On February 16, the reporter visited Camsense's office in Nanshan Zhiyuan, Shenzhen, and talked about the application of space positioning in several industries with Christopher, the founder.
Shenzhen Camsense Technology Co., Ltd. was established in April 2014. It focuses on the application of computer vision technology in space positioning. The founder Christopher graduated from Tsinghua University image processing and computer vision major. R & D in the gym to detect the camera device used to detect sports data. Later, as the degree of commercial use of computer vision continued to increase, Christopher decided to create Camsense and devoted himself to the research and development of algorithms related to indoor space positioning.
Different from the anthropomorphic imaging, Camsense selects a monocular solution similar to Oculus. It can be ranging from the front objects only through a camera and transmits the three -dimensional coordinates of the object to the next level of device. At present, Camsense's technology is mainly used in the three areas of television, VR, and robots. Among them, TV and VR are all entering the market in the form of game accessories. In the words of Christopher, the same game effect is completed in lower costs. "The core competitiveness of our products is to achieve high performance through the optimization of the algorithm. The core ability of the team is to find the computer vision in the commercial entry, and then create a good product." Christopher frank Speaking.
Image processing method with a mark point
In terms of product form, Camsense provides a camera and handle that needs to be equipped with video games, the handle and camera equipped with VR games. However, Christopher said that Camsense's intention is not a provider of the hardware of the camera. At present, more than 20 people in the company are mainly developing algorithms. The products are generated in the form of foundry and take a light asset model. Through the optimization of the algorithm, the Camsense team allows the camera to complete the extraction of the Asian pixel image accuracy, and accurately accurate the image accuracy to 0.01 pixels. In this way, in order to achieve the extraction accuracy of the same effect, Camsense can use a relatively lower pixel camera, plus a monocular scheme, so the price is much lower than the binocular camera scheme.
Christopher said that fewer companies using monocular camera schemes are because internal algorithms are more difficult, that is, the monocular scheme requires higher the team's soft power, and the advantage is that the cost of hardware is low.
"Although they are all cameras, the company we also do the camera follows two runways. They focus on hardware instead of optimization of algorithms. In this way, there is no mark point in the game. It's higher. And Camsense is currently doing image processing with marking points. For example, in the TV gun battle game, we only need to identify the direction of the muzzle, and only need to make a 2D positioning to ensure a good game experience. "Christopher said Essence
Profit Model
In the profit model, Camsense follows the B2B2C model. The company provides the camera and gamepad hardware to TV manufacturers. TV manufacturers are connected to consumers, or choose to give the product in the way of sale. The Camsense team can focus on the development of the software level. At present, TV manufacturers who have cooperated with Camsense include Skyworth, Hisense, LeTV, etc. VR products will move towards the market in the same model. Christopher revealed that the company already has the first American customer of VR products.
In addition to TV and VR, Camsense also has solutions for the field of robotics. According to Christopher, Camsense is developing a solution for the accuracy measurement of machine arm operation. In the manufacturing of large aircraft, the processing of various components depends on the machine arm, but there is also an error in the operation of the robotic arm, which needs to be monitored. The accuracy of Camsense in positioning technology can be competent for this task. However, Christopher said that the technology is not the focus of this year's research and development. In 2017, the team will focus on the development of VR devices. In terms of marketing, the TV field is still focusing on the marketing field to cultivate new projects with mature projects.
Camsense is currently facing domestic manufacturers for accessories products, while VR products are facing foreign markets in the future. There are similar reasons. Foreign consumers have a clear functional distinction on TV and video game consoles. The function of TV is watching movies and programs. The video game console is used to play games. Therefore, foreign consumers are willing to experience a better game experience. On the basis of TV, buy game consoles, VR devices and other game accessories, and they are also willing to pay for good game content. Domestic consumers hope that television integrates more functions, and the willingness to pay in the game is not strong enough. Therefore, Camsense's video game accessories are more opposite to domestic manufacturers, and VR devices have a market abroad.
At present, Camsense has more than 20 employees, almost all of which are responsible for research and development. The company has previously completed the PRE-A round financing from 10 million yuan from Oriental Fuhai and LeTV, and will start Series A financing to accelerate market expansion.
