BRUSSELS, Jan. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:
CEVA), HARMAN, KeyLemon, nViso, SoftKinetic, Tobii Technology and
the University of Siena, today announced that their joint project
focused on multi-modal human-machine technologies, has received
funding from Horizon 2020 (H2020), the €80 billion European Union
Research and Innovation programme. The project is known as FANCI
(Face and body Analysis Natural Computer Interaction) and CEVA will
act as the project coordinator.
The FANCI project is centered around the integration of
multi-modal human-machine technologies on a single platform,
realizing significant cost and power savings for the implementation
of these functions in embedded products. FANCI will research,
innovate, architect, design, develop and validate innovative
multi-modal face and body analytics and natural computer interfaces
(NCI), develop a reference platform fitting a variety of
applications, and provide validation through user experience
evaluation and benchmarking. Initially the project will focus on
the automotive industry to validate this technology.
Each of the bodies involved bring industry-leading expertise in
their chosen fields: CEVA (Israel)
as the provider of the CEVA-MM3101 imaging and vision platform and
computer vision libraries for the human-machine technologies,
HARMAN (Germany) as the automotive
industry expert, KeyLemon (Switzerland) as the provider of face
authentication software, nViso (Switzerland) as the provider of emotion
detection software, SoftKinetic (Belgium) as the provider of 3D vision
technologies and gesture software, Tobii Technology (Sweden) as the provider of eye tracking
technology, and the University of Siena (Italy) as the developer of the application
layer and the user API. FANCI will integrate all of these
capabilities in a market-ready reference architecture, demonstrated
by building a creative automotive application-suite demonstrator,
including an application programming interface (API) for software
application developers.
Commenting on the successful grant application, Shay Adar,
Director of Technology Collaborative Programs at CEVA and
Coordinator of FANCI, stated: "This funding from the European Union
will enable us to accelerate our collaborative efforts to develop a
fully-featured multi-modal platform for a highly-immersive
human-machine interactive experience. Integrating all of these
technologies into single reference architecture for embedded
products will serve to validate the cost and power savings
achievable and enable us to demonstrate the true capabilities of a
fully-featured human-machine user experience."
About CEVA, Inc.
CEVA is the world's leading licensor
of DSP-based IP platforms for vision, audio, and communications,
and connectivity IPs for Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth®. CEVA's portfolio
includes comprehensive technologies for computer vision and
computational photography, advanced audio and voice processing,
2G/3G/4G/LTE/LTE-A baseband processing, connectivity (including
802.11ac and Bluetooth Low Energy) and serial storage (SATA &
SAS). In 2013, CEVA's IP was shipped in more than one billion
devices, including 40% of handsets shipped worldwide, powering
smartphones from many of the world's leading OEMs such as Coolpad,
HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Nokia, Samsung, TCL, Xiaomi and ZTE. For
more information, visit www.ceva-dsp.com. Follow CEVA on
twitter at www.twitter.com/cevadsp.
About HARMAN
HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs,
manufactures and markets premier audio, visual, infotainment and
enterprise automation solutions for the automotive, consumer and
professional markets. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman
Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark
Levinson ® and Revel®, the Company is admired by
audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they
perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are
equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN
has a workforce of approximately 16,600 people across the Americas,
Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.6 billion for the 12 months ended September 30, 2014. The Company's shares
are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
NYSE:HAR
About KeyLemon
KeyLemon S.A. offers convenient, secure and
continuous biometric authentication solutions based on face and
speaker recognition. To improve robustness to illumination and
pose, as well as to provide enhanced security against photo/video
spoofing attacks, KeyLemon's latest face recognition algorithms
take full benefit of 3D depth sense cameras by efficiently
combining depth, near-infrared and color
information. KeyLemon's advanced technology is available
as a multi-platform SDK, online web service and in a unique
client-server solution for developers and manufacturers across a
wide variety of industries. Used by consumers and enterprises
worldwide, KeyLemon can easily be integrated into any device,
system or application to improve online transaction authentication,
facilitate access to mobile apps and services, and enhance safety
features in machinery such as automobiles. For more information,
visit www.keylemon.com.
About nViso
nViso is a leading provider of emotion
recognition software that interprets human facial micro-expressions
and eye movements captured through video. Its solutions use
proprietary 3D Facial Imaging technology with artificial
intelligence to track hundreds of different facial points to
recognize human emotions. The company uniquely combines the latest
advancements in computer science, engineering and behavioral
sciences to make automatic emotion recognition a viable reality
using any image based device. Its proprietary analytical techniques
are based on theoretical work by Dr. Paul
Ekman, which demonstrates that emotions can be precisely
recognized by minor changes in micro-expressions in the face. nViso
is based at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland (EPFL). More information can be
found at www.nviso.ch.
About SoftKinetic
SoftKinetic's vision is to give
everyone the freedom to control, explore and enjoy the entire
digital world through the most natural and intuitive user
interfaces and machine interactions. SoftKinetic is the leading
provider of 3D vision technology for the consumer electronics and
professional markets, including automotive, digital signage, and
medical systems. The company offers a complete family of 3D
imaging, 3D scanning and gesture recognition solutions, including
patented 3D CMOS time-of-flight sensors, modules and cameras
(DepthSense® family of products), multi-platform 3D scanning and 3D
gesture recognition middleware and tools (SoftKinetic® Libraries
family of products). For more information on SoftKinetic please
visit www.softkinetic.com. For videos of SoftKinetic-related
products visit SoftKinetic's YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/SoftKinetic.
About Tobii Technology
Tobii Technology is the global
leader in eye tracking, and is pioneering eye tracking in personal
computing, has transformed research in many fields and has enabled
communication for thousands of people with special needs. The
company develops and delivers core eye-tracking technology as well
as a comprehensive solution for interaction and analytical
applications. Tobii is headquartered in Sweden and operates through three divisions:
Tobii OEM Solutions, Tobii Dynavox and Tobii Analysis Solutions,
with offices in the United States,
China, Germany, Japan and Norway, and a global network of resellers.
Founded in 2001, Tobii continues to achieve rapid annual growth and
receive awards and recognition for its accomplishments.
www.tobii.com.
About the University of Siena
Founded in 1240, the
University of Siena is one of the oldest Universities in
Europe. Its 20,000 students live
the unique experience of studying in one of the most admired
historical centers in the world. Siena is a city campus which
constitutes a perfect location for over 100 Teaching and Doctoral
Programmes, 15 Departments and all related students' services.
International and national rankings recognise its value as a
Research and Teaching University. Notably, in the Censis-La
Repubblica 2014 general ranking the University of Siena was
classified first among Italian universities. The University of
Siena has defined the improvement of students' services,
sustainable development, internationalization and employability as
its strategic priorities. For more information about the University
of Siena, please visit: www.unisi.it.
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SOURCE CEVA, Inc.