CES 2021 Taiwanese Startup Unusly provides extended reality software to be used on mobile unmanned vehicles as drones

TAIPEI, Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Founded by two Googlers in 2019, Unusly provides service to connect agents, remote buyers and real property through AI-powered drone technology. Recently, Unusly released Alice & Bob, enabling real property live tours in one day by three steps. Unusly customers can request the service to live tour their real properties such as real estate, leasing apartments and co-working offices over the internet to help people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Technical speaking, Unusly builds machine learning and AI-powered technology for mobile unmanned vehicles, starting with drones. Over 75% of Unusly AI algorithms are designed by two female graduate researchers at National Taiwan University, including deep learning on visual saliency prediction and human privacy protection. Unusly believes more women in AI helps eliminate biases and discriminations on AI existed in society.

This year, Unusly has been selected by Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) as one of the 100 featured Taiwanese startups to showcase at CES 2021. Unusly has been the exhibitor of CES 2020 and 2021 consecutively, and will join Plug & Play supported by TTA Silicon Valley Program in upcoming spring. Furthermore, Unusly has over 1,000 professional followers on Linkedin, the biggest professional social platform: www.linkedin.com/company/unusly

Connecting everyone at the same place virtually

Unusly proves it doesn't matter where people are through extended reality. The origin of Alice is from the book "Alice in Wonderland", presenting a fantasy world by following young curiosity. Another story of Alice is from the "Alice & Bob" as the first two fictional observers of quantum entanglement, supporting that telecommunication over the speed of light is possible.

Most traditional virtual tours are made by static photos or are incomplete by short clips; It left behind a lot of the key information such as timeline and blind spots which can hold back customers' purchase intent.

Alice complements traditional virtual tours. With Alice, tenants, renters and buyers are all connected on cloud. Showcasing the space to people across countries and oceans is just as easy as how people usually do in person. Users can control Alice to navigate in the space for their own exploration. If this is not cool enough, Alice provides an omni-view with live navigator support with real-time map, and even takes users on a time travel (with time-lapse) for a more holistic experience.

The new concept of time information and data ownership

The founder, Dr. Luke Lu, said Unusly's service is to complement existing products, not to compete with them. The company focuses on two niches; time information; and data ownership.

Regarding time information, Lu said that most existing online tour services are made by static photos or are incomplete by pre-recorded video clips. It left behind key information such as timeline and blind spots, which can hold back paying customers' purchase intents.

Regarding data ownership, Lu said that most existing products host users' data and claim data ownership, which raises data privacy and security concerns. For example, the complete information of a single house hosted by a third-party may be leaked and then cause security concerns. For another example, users want to have the flexibility to repurpose their data for follow-up applications such as Airbnb leasing, home renovation, or interior design. Unusly also returns data ownership to users. Users can download their data or deny Alice & Bob host data.

Eliminating false perceptions on robots

"In Unusly, we build software applications running on top of robotic hardware to help foreigners connect and control their robots as tour guides over the cloud. Deliver and receive timely information as presented physically," he said.

He said Unusly mission is also to eliminate biases and discriminations on robots. "We respect robots as much as our collaborators because they are really improving our life together. Robots are immune from COVID-19, and humans are immune to computer viruses, so we could help each other to achieve a win-win situation," he said.

Growing from just a thought to an innovative solution

"The idea of Unusly started long before COVID-19. We always have this firm belief that in the future world, the interaction between human beings, business to consumer, and business to business can be connected closer than today. So we are building software and services for business cases where the sense of presence is most needed, allowing people to be anywhere anytime, even across oceans and nations," said Unusly Founder Dr. Luke Lu.

Lu previously held key positions in the virtual reality industry with big corporations such as Google, and Sony. "I was building the first few eye-tracking VR systems with HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR, and Google Daydream," he said.

Lu was born in Taiwan and became an immigrant for his Ph.D. degree at Princeton University, where he designed a pioneer quantum imaging system using entangled photons and won the Emil Wolf best paper award.

CES 2021 TTA-VR Pavilion: https://pse.is/39u8s3

SOURCE Unusly