Lumotive and AXIBO Partner to Bring Solid-state 3D Lidar Sensing to Photography and Cinematography Automation

Lumotive's LCM™ Beam Steering Technology Integrated with AXIBO's Precision eJib™ Robotic Arm Unveiled at CES, Las Vegas, January 5-8

SEATTLE and LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumotive, the developer of Light Control Metasurface (LCM™) beam steering chips enabling the next generation of 3D sensors, and AXIBO, a cinema robotics company and the developer of autonomous camera motion control systems, today unveiled AXIBO's Precision eJib™ — a unique, designed-for-cinema, 6-axis robotic arm with 3D sensing capabilities made possible with Lumotive's LCM beam steering technology. The jointly-developed solution (to be demonstrated publicly for the first time tomorrow in Lumotive's booth #5877 at CES 2023) gives photographers and videographers unparalleled capabilities such as smart object targeting and tracking, enhanced image stabilization, and ground-breaking new autofocus features, to produce far crisper images and films combined with automated scene capture.

Available initially for professional-grade cameras, and under development for consumer-grade cameras, this revolutionary photography and cinematography automation solution takes advantage of Lumotive's LCM beam steering chips that deliver best-in-class performance, range, and size in the 3D sensing industry. Unlike traditional flash illumination solutions, 3D lidar sensors based on Lumotive's LCMs have numerous advantages including:

• Superior outdoor range performance
• Software-defined scan modes for increased and application-specific performance (range, field of view, frame rate, resolution) only where it matters
• Reduced multipath effects resulting in better point cloud quality
• Optimization of illumination across the field of view in high ambient light levels and for varying levels of reflectivity
• Significantly improved interference mitigation from other sensors
• High power density with small form factor

"Until now, many advanced camera features, such as object detection, subject tracking, and closed-loop autofocus, have been limited in both performance and visual quality due to the lack of 3D sensing capabilities in photo and video camera systems," said Axel Fuchs, Vice President of Business Development at Lumotive. "The integration of our LCM beam steering technology with AXIBO's Precision eJib camera motion system takes photographic and videographic automation to a whole new level without sacrificing creativity. We are extremely pleased with the results of our collaboration."

Enabled by Lumotive's M30 lidar reference design, AXIBO's CES demonstration showcases advanced object tracking combined with automatic focus of a large, manual lens for enhanced filmmaking. The AXIBO system uses 3D information provided by the M30 to automatically direct a camera to follow and focus on a specific subject as it moves. The M30's wide field of view of (120 x 90) provides reliable depth-of-field data over a large area — allowing a subject to freely move in the scene without the camera losing focus. Additionally, the M30's real-time software programmability allows the user to optimize both illumination and sensing resources to adaptively achieve better performance customized for a specific scene.

"Lumotive's software-defined lidar technology has proven to be a valuable asset in our search for the perfect solution to our problem statement. Not only does it provide very precise, high-quality depth information, but it also has the unique ability to dynamically adjust the region of interest for improved focus and visual quality," said Anoop Gadhrri, CEO at AXIBO. "We are grateful to have such a unique and innovative solution at our disposal and look forward to seeing the impact it will have on our customers and industry."

Early versions of Lumotive's M30 lidar reference design are currently being evaluated by a growing number of leading consumer product companies, robotics systems developers, tier one automotive sensor suppliers, and industrial OEMs. The M30 reference design with enhanced performance and optimized for volume manufacturing is expected to be available by mid-2023. For additional information please contact either Lumotive here, or AXIBO here. 

Lumotive's transformative optical semiconductors are enabling the next generation of 3D sensing for consumer, mobility, and industrial markets. The company's Light Control Metasurface (LCM™) optical semiconductors utilize revolutionary, patented beam-steering technology to deliver an unprecedented combination of best-in-class performance, cost, reliability, and size. Lumotive's LCMs enable the industry's first software-defined lidar with advanced perception capabilities. The company has received measurable industry acclaim with inclusion in the following rankings: Sensors Converge/Fierce Electronics 2021 Startup of the Year, Built In Seattle's Best Small Companies to Work For, JMP Securities Efficient Fifty list of the most interesting private companies in industrial and energy technology, and EE Times' Silicon 100: Emerging Startups to Watch. Lumotive's LCM technology was recently recognized with two CES 2022 Innovation Awards, a 2022 SPIE PRISM Award, a 2022 Business Intelligence Group "Excellence in Artificial Intelligence" Award, and a prestigious Edison Award. Investors include Bill Gates, MetaVC Partners, Quan Funds, Samsung Ventures, Uniquest, and USAA.

AXIBO was founded in 2018 by Anoop Gadhrri, Reiner Schmidt, and Sohaib Al-Emara while they were engineering undergraduates at McMaster University in Canada. They wanted to automate their filming process but realized there was nothing on the market that did exactly what they wanted, so they create their own solution leveraging their background from the autonomous robotics and vehicle space. Through persistence, iterations, and sleepless nights, the first version of AXIBO's camera motion system was launched on Kickstarter. Since then, AXIBO has grown rapidly. The company has units installed at customers around the world, including Apple & Netflix, and has branched into various industries beyond initial expectations. AXIBO is passionate about bringing new advances in the field of Artificial Intelligence to make automation in film accessible.

Media Contact
Lynda Kaye, Kaye Public Relations
[email protected] 
+1 250-266-5293

SOURCE Lumotive