MOBOTIX, i-PRO and Konica Minolta recently announced they will strengthen strategic collaboration, with the first solution under this unique partnership set to launch sometime this year. This article takes a closer look.
MOBOTIX, i-PRO and Konica Minolta recently
announced they will strengthen strategic collaboration, with the first solution under this unique partnership set to launch sometime this year. This article takes a closer look.
The three companies are all experts in the area of video imaging. MOBOTIX is a manufacturer of AI-based IP video systems. i-PRO is known for their sensing technologies in the fields of intelligent surveillance, public safety, and industrial/medical imaging. Minolta Konica Minolta is a Japanese multinational technology company whose FORXAI platform combines imaging technology with AI and IoT, collectively known as AIoT, to accelerate the digital transformation of customers and partners.
The three have collaborated in different ways over the past years. In 2020 for example, amid the pandemic, MOBOTIX and i-PRO announced a new thermal camera solution which combines MOBOTIX M16/S16 cameras with the functionality of a new plug-in from i-PRO’s Video Insight video management systems (VMS) to automatically detect when an individual’s body temperature exceeds a pre-set threshold. Some FORXAI edge devices were developed using edge computing IP cameras, image data compression technology, and image data analysis technology of MOBOTIX, in which Konica Minolta acquired a 65 percent stake in 2016.
Leveraging each other’s strengths
Now the three have deepened their partnership, which will allow the companies to mutually leverage the strengths of the offerings of i-PRO and MOBOTIX and combine their products with Konica Minolta’s FORXAI platform. Further, under the new strategic cooperation, MOBOTIX will use selected high-performance i-PRO camera hardware, combined with unique MOBOTIX DNA feature sets on an ODM/JDM (original design manufacturing/joint development manufacturing) basis, with the first product scheduled to be launched in 2023. The hardware will be compatible with the existing MOBOTIX and Konica Minolta system landscape.
“We can confirm that we have qualified i-PRO as an additional ODM partner for our MOBOTIX MOVE portfolio and that we selectively use their specific hardware portfolio and perform MOBOTIX specific software adaptations (ODM/ JDM),” said Christian Cabirol, CTO of MOBOTIX.
“We will provide full details on specific products as soon as we officially launch them,” he added.
Integration with FORXAI
The partnership catches up with the latest
trends in the
video surveillance market, which now demands much more than video monitoring and post-event verification. Detection, analysis, and prediction using
AI, and the provision of data services that leverage it, are increasingly coming into focus as new growth areas. In this regard, connecting i-PRO and MOBOTIX systems with Konica Minolta's FORXAI imaging IoT platform opens up integrating and using various other devices and systems through open partnerships. The companies hope to develop unique solutions based on Konica Minolta's imaging AI technology, integrate the technologies of FORXAI partner companies, expand their customer base, and continuously utilize customer data.
FORXAI is an imaging IoT platform that combines imaging technology with AIoT. AI algorithms may run in the cloud, but FORXAI also offers services that can be easily implemented in devices, such as on-site (edge) cameras. The FORXAI technology is being used in applications such as agriculture, medical care, nursing care, factory/plant operation, and over-the-counter marketing.
Strengthening solutions for verticals in a targeted manner
According to the three companies, the collaboration will strengthen solution offerings for the vertical markets – for example industry and production, government, healthcare and logistics – in a targeted manner with performant end-to-end solutions. It enables customers to meet their needs in terms of improved processes, higher profits, and support for more social safety and security in society.
“We deliver customized end-to-end solutions for our key vertical markets consisting of various components. Part of these complete solutions can also be third-party components from our partner network. This results in a wide range of solutions that are virtually inexhaustible,” Cabirol said. “Our Solution Packs, which offer tangible applications and benefits for some of our verticals and explicitly address customer needs, provide a good starting point – for example, the solution packages for waste management, battery monitoring, service stations, e-mobility, or all aspects of MOBITIX thermal applications.”