Investors: Press Release
GeckoSystems Adapting Microsoft's Kinect to "Collision Proof" Electric Wheelchairs
CONYERS, GA--(Marketwire - January 19, 2011) - GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (PINKSHEETS: GOSY) announced today that their recent invention of the GeckoImager™ which intimately incorporates Microsoft's Kinect sensor, in concert with their proprietary "Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety, Security and Service™," enables cost effective retrofitting of electric wheelchairs to be "collision proof." GeckoSystems is a dynamic leader in the emerging mobile robotics industry revolutionizing their development and usage.
"The 'collision proof' retrofit kit we are presently developing may be added to most joystick operated electric wheelchairs. The wheelchair occupant would simply move the joystick in the direction they wish to go and GeckoNav -- in concert with multiple GeckoSavants™ -- would automatically seek that desired direction while avoiding any and all obstacles whether stationary or moving. We expect the cost to the end user, completely installed, to be only a few thousand dollars for this heightened level of safety for not only the occupant of the wheelchair, but also those persons around them," stated Martin Spencer, President/CEO, GeckoSystems.
GeckoSystems' recently announced GeckoImager uses sensor fusion incorporating Microsoft's Kinect's structured light machine vision capability merged with sonar range finders to compliment their GeckoOrient's™ solid-state compass, accelerometer, and odometry sensor fusion. This provides their automatic, self-navigation AI software, GeckoNav™, with sufficient and timely data to achieve actionable situation awareness and the resulting very safe loose crowd level of autonomy to be "collision proof."
Due to the extraordinary small size of Microsoft's Kinect sensor device, low power, high level of utility, and low cost; it is ideal for easy and appropriate placement on many, if not most, electric wheelchairs. The Kinect's field of view (FOV) is such that two are needed to get a wide enough FOV to provide sufficient peripheral vision to see incoming, moving obstacles, etc.
"The amount of data that the new GeckoImager provides is far greater than what can reasonably be collected with fixed sensors and at a much lower cost than scanning laser range finding systems that are frequently used. Our new GeckoImager sensor fusion system not only provides timely and actionable situation awareness information sufficient for our AI navigation software, GeckoNav, but also satisfies those requirements at a much lower cost, in both dollars and power," stated Kevin O'Connor, Sr. EE Roboticist, Research and Development, GeckoSystems.
Presently the company is doing market research for this business-to-business (B2B) market place using the Delphi Method. As previously announced, this sensor fusion breakthrough may enable some near term business-to-business niche retrofit markets, such as the one described here. Potential sales forecasts for this B2B market are being developed as manufacturing costs and market size become more clearly understood.
Traditional video centric machine vision systems are very expensive in dollars, power consumed, and time required to provide new data (i.e. the update rate). Taking a clue from compound insect eyes in nature, GeckoSystems invented the CompoundedSensorArray over ten years ago. The first generation used ultrasonic and infrared range finders intelligently merged using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. Now with structured light machine vision abstracted by the new GeckoImager with not only sonar, but also with GeckoOrient™, in a biological hierarchical architecture, significantly greater performance is realized with dramatic cost reductions.
The biological metaphor for the GeckoImager is the visual cortex. The visual cortex is where we actually see the images before our eyes. It is the part of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information. The function of the visual cortex is to basically show you what you are seeing; it receives the impulses sent to it from the eye that contain what the image should look like. This image that it receives is upside-down though, so one of the visual cortex's functions is to flip it right side up again. In common language the visual cortex is referred to as your 'mind's eye' and can also show you your memories, or your imagination as well as what you are currently seeing.
Now additional near term markets are viable due to the improved value proposition to the end user.
"Our recent world's first in home elder care robot trials have garnered many inquiries for us regarding our business model, technologies available for licensing, and interest in joint domestic and international ventures. Our GeckoImager breakthrough enables some near term business-to-business niche retrofit markets such as a 'collision proof' electric wheelchair. While we continue to expect technology-licensing revenues to precede revenues from product manufacturing and sales, this new B2B opportunity will be carefully reviewed for near term benefits. This augurs well for increased ROI and shareholder value for our nearly 1400 investors," concluded Spencer.
Interested manufacturers, distributors, and/or dealers inquiries welcome.