Invision AI

Invision AI develops computer vision and artificial intelligence software for the transportation industry. Its platform derives real-time, geo-referenced 3-D information — position, size, speed, heading and acceleration of objects — from a single ordinary camera, and can link multiple cameras into a collaborative mesh that tracks objects from entry to exit across a site. Processing is distributed to edge devices, which the company states preserves privacy and reduces bandwidth costs, and the platform uses generative AI so that individual sensors can learn to detect anomalies and share those improvements with other sensors.

Three named products are offered: iVOD for vehicle occupancy detection (counting passengers in vehicles automatically in varying weather and at varying speeds), iAID for automatic incident detection (real-time geo-localized anomaly detection and alerting), and iFlow for origin-to-destination tracking and situational analysis of spaces using multiple collaborative cameras. Described deployments and use cases include rail station passenger flow, HOT and HOV lane occupancy enforcement including a France–Switzerland border crossing, adaptive highway lighting via incident detection, traffic counting and vehicle classification, and level-crossing safety and timing optimization.

Earlier coverage described the company as supplying edge-based AI software generating real-time insights from inputs such as object tracking and analytics, with smart office applications developed alongside a partnership with furniture manufacturer Steelcase.

Founding story

In 2014, Karim Ali was conducting post-doctoral research on applying neural networks to computer vision at UC Berkeley and Harvard. He concluded that restricting computer vision to single-camera 2-D analytics was a constraint on scalability, and Invision was subsequently founded to build image-understanding AI that provides 3-D awareness from a single camera and combines multiple cameras into a collaborative mesh.

Business model

Invision AI sells AI software that runs on edge devices with off-the-shelf cameras, so customers do not need to purchase specialized hardware or rely on cloud uploads. Products are packaged as named solutions (iVOD, iAID, iFlow) sold to infrastructure operators and agencies for occupancy detection, incident detection and flow tracking.

Revenue comes from supplying AI software products to enterprise and infrastructure customers; the company reported revenue of approximately $500,000 in 2018 and projected multi-million-dollar revenue thereafter.

Traction

Reported deployments include iFlow increasing passenger capacity at a railway station for a major operator by up to 27%, iVOD controlling HOV lane access at a France–Switzerland border crossing where violation rates fell from about 90% to nearly zero, and iAID enabling an adaptively lit highway of more than 200 km with 75% energy savings. Steelcase is described as a banner client. Revenue of roughly $500,000 was reported for 2018 with headcount growing from two to twelve.

Latest developments

A 2023 account documented the Steelcase partnership originating through MaRS and the resulting smart office offering becoming a pillar of the company's products and growth strategy. Patents on roadside vehicle occupancy detection and scene-aware object detection were granted between 2022 and 2023.