Israeli start-up expects success after win at int'l competition

Israeli start-up expects

By BEN HARTMAN
Adaptive Imaging Technologies 248,88 (photo credit: )
Adaptive Imaging Technologies 248,88
(photo credit: )
An Israeli security start-up has reported heightened interest in the firm since it won a top award at a prestigious international competition earlier this month. Adaptive Imaging Technologies (AIT) won the "Most Promising Startup" award at the Global Security Challenge in London on November 13th, for a digital surveillance system that allows a single camera to perform work that would previously only be possible with a network of cameras. AIT calls its surveillance camera the "Panoramic Telescope." The technology continuously monitors a panoramic field of vision, while simultaneously allowing telescopic zooms on any point in the camera's frame. AIT says they believe the technology will improve the surveillance of borders, urban areas, and other secure sites. AIT founders said winning the award is "something of a big deal" in the security technologies industry. The prize comes with a $100,000 award that the company can use as it pleases. CEO Gideon Miller told The Jerusalem Post Sunday that AIT spent three years developing the hardware technology, and that the victory at the Global Security Challenge could have a dramatic effect on the company's growth. Miller, who is originally from Zimbabwe but moved to Israel in 2001 after 18 years in the United States, said his company was by far the smallest among all the finalists and the first Israeli company to win the award. The competition, which is sponsored by the US Defense Department and officiated by scientists from the Pentagon, is one of the top showcases for new security technologies, with most winners typically achieving great success. Miller said the corporation is looking to market its technology to border patrol agencies and municipalities who are looking to deploy surveillance cameras in public areas, especially at so-called "critical infrastructure" sites like nuclear power plants, pipelines, and the like. Miller says AIT believes their single-camera technology will present a far more efficient method of observing large areas, performing surveillance which otherwise would require the deployment of dozens of cameras. AIT also sees potential for the technology to be used at large sporting events, where the camera's ability to zoom in on specific faces in the crowd across the panoramic frame will give security personnel an enhanced ability to locate troublemakers, especially those who are on watch lists.