Seeing Machines Regulatory News (SEE)

29 Jun 2007 10:11

Seeing Machines Limited29 June 2007 29 June 2007 Seeing Machines Limited ("Seeing Machines" or the "Company") SEEING MACHINES AND THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY SIGN MASTER DEVELOPMENT & COMMERCIALIZATION AGREEMENT Seeing Machines (AIM: SEE), a leading developer of advanced computer basedimaging software systems, announces today that it has concluded a masterdevelopment and commercialization agreement with the Australian NationalUniversity (ANU). Under the terms of the agreement Seeing Machines will provide material supportto the research efforts of the ANU through the loan of materials, software,equipment and know-how. In return Seeing Machines acquires the first rights tocommercialize all intellectual property generated by the research activitiesconducted within the ANU and supported by the materials. Dr Fiona Nelms, Director of the Office of Commercialisation at the ANUcommented: "This agreement furthers the strong relationship between ANU andSeeing Machines with an aim to develop state of the art diagnostic tools forglaucoma and other eye diseases. Our collaboration to date has enabled ANU IP todevelop in a commercial setting thereby increasing the chance of successfulproduct development, and we look forward to building on this with the executionof this new agreement." Nick Cerneaz CEO of Seeing Machines said: "This agreement cements the strongfoundation that has been established between the Company and the University overthe last few years. We have worked very closely with the world class team at theResearch School of Biological Sciences at ANU for the development of theTrueField Analyzer, and we are tremendously excited about the pipeline of futureapplications that can be built on that base platform. There are already a numberof research activities underway within the University that are supported bymaterials from Seeing Machines and come under the scope of this agreement, andwe look forward to realizing the potential of that work in the future." Further information about Seeing Machines can be obtained from the companywebsite www.seeingmachines.com. --- ENDS --- Enquiries:Seeing Machines Limited Insinger de Beaufort Parkgreen CommunicationsNick Cerneaz, CEO Peter Ward Clare Irvine+61 (0) 2 6125 6501 +44 (0) 20 7190 7015 +44 (0) 20 7851 7480www.seeingmachines.com Notes to editors: About Seeing Machines Seeing Machines is an award winning Technology Company which focuses on visionbased human machine interfaces. Formed in 2000 in Canberra, Australia, SeeingMachines' purpose is to commercialise its computer-vision across a range ofindustries and applications. Seeing Machines deliver advanced computer vision solutions for researches anddevelopers in human factors, transportation safety, computer human interaction,robotics, medical research and psychology. The flagship product faceLAB(R)provides an automated and contact-free gaze and head tracking technology, itsolves the problem of observing human behaviour naturally, non-intrusively andwith a high degree of accuracy and usability. Building on these unique facetracking and pupil measurement and monitoring capabilities, the TrueFieldAnalyzer(R) is a development undertaken by Seeing Machines in partnership withcolleagues from the Research School of Biological Sciences (RSBS) at theAustralian National University (ANU). The TrueField Analyzer(R) offers a new objective method to help doctors diagnoseand manage a range of eye diseases including glaucoma, age related maculardegeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Glaucoma affects about 2-3% of thepopulation over 40 years of age and is a leading source of blindness. Unlikemost other devices available to the clinician the TrueField Analyzer is acompletely objective test and it is quick and easy for patients and techniciansalike. The device measures both eyes concurrently and due to the reliabilitythat arises from the objective nature of the test, it has the potential tobecome a new standard in the measurement of visual field defects and thus in thediagnosis and management of disease such as glaucoma. More generally Seeing Machines' computer vision systems are able to measure theorientation and position of a human head, estimate eye-gaze direction, detecteye blinks and track other facial features. This functionality is achievedentirely though visual means, using video cameras connected to advanced imageprocessing software, with no attachments required on the subject. Products suchas faceLAB(R) are designed to allow human factors researchers and designers toassess the interaction of an operator in an environment and this findsapplication in designing operator environments, such as cockpits for cars,trucks, trains, and aeroplanes for instance, and other industrial designapplications, as well as medical and psychological research situations. Thetechnology also has application in monitoring automobile drivers and if itdetects drowsiness or that the driver is distracted and their attention has beendiverted from the road, an alarm can be raised to alert the driver to eitherpull over and rest in the case of drowsiness or to pay more attention to theroad. The systems work in real-time, enabling the behaviour of subjects to be trackedin real-time. This technology is paving the way in promoting safer drivingconditions and works to enhance the driving experience and to eliminateaccidents caused through driver drowsiness or distraction. There are many different sectors that can benefit from this revolutionarysoftware, for which it has been developed, including: automotive; academicresearch; medicine/healthcare; defence; autostereoscopy (next generationdisplays); sport; and games. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange