OrCam Technologies, the Jerusalem-based firm known for its AI-driven vision assistance technology, beat out over 1,800 products to receive its third consecutive win at the annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2022 Innovation Awards. CES is the annual trade show and tech event organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) were some of the biggest brands and global innovators in the consumer electronics industry come together to showcase groundbreaking technologies. The CES Innovation Awards is the annual CES competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products across 28 product categories.
“We have developed significant device enhancements in the OrCam MyEye PRO, breaking new ground in personal AI technology. We are proud that CES has once again recognized our innovative spirit and impact on both the accessibility and health & wellness domains,” said Tzahi Israel, SVP Sales & Marketing of OrCam.
OrCam Technologies was named an innovation honoree in the Accessibility and Health and Wellness categories by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) for its MyEye PRO voice-activated wearable device for people who are blind, visually impaired, or have reading challenges.
“The interactive smart reading capability allows users an experience tailored specifically for them,” wrote the judges. The OrCam MyEye PRO beat out over 1,800 products to receive the award ahead of the CES trade show held Jan 5-Jan 8 in Nevada. OrCam Technologies, founded by Professor Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram is the same duo that founded Israeli drive assistance giant Mobileye.
“We live in a time of uncertainty, and yet OrCam understands that the challenges of its users have not ceased during the epidemic. On the contrary, they have only intensified,” said Prof Amnon Shashua, co-founder and co-chair of OrCam. “We are proud of the role that our technologies play in assisting users during this period, and in providing the independence that they will provide in the future as well.”
“OrCam has the largest R&D team in the world focused on engineering assistive technology for people who are blind or visually impaired. This enables us to concentrate on developing features that can truly transform a person’s life. Integrating the voice-activated, ‘Hey OrCam’ personal assistant, and the ‘Smart Reading’ feature, OrCam’s versatile text-to-speech engine, provides unprecedented independence for tens of thousands of users globally, These developments allow people to work more effectively, pursue higher education, and go about their daily lives with confidence empowered by this device.”
OrCam MyEye PRO is a wearable assistive technology device. It’s lightweight, finger-size and magnetically mounts on eyeglass frames. The device instantly reads aloud any printed text (books, menus, signs) and digital screens (computer, smartphone), recognizes faces, and identifies products/bar codes, money notes, and colors – all in real-time and offline. The interactive Smart Reading feature enables users to tailor this assistive reading experience, and Orientation assists with guidance and identification of objects.
“Our artificial intelligence technologies provide quality of life and independence to many people around the world. I am happy and thankful for the great appreciation that our technology receives at the CES – the largest and most important technology fair in the world,” added Rani Hagag, CEO at OrCam. “These days, OrCam is in full swing and is facing the launch of other innovative developments. As part of this, we are growing and recruiting a variety of talents for OrCam’s excellent team which will be a significant force in a society that is changing the reality for many people around the world.”
Newly released “Hey OrCam” enables control of all device features and settings hands-free using voice commands.
Rafi Fischer, OrCam MyEye PRO’s public and media relations director, asserts that the voice activation/understanding capabilities made possible by the interactive “Hey OrCam” querying put this technology on par with the major global tech players’ voice-activated assistants.
“Yet there is a significant difference as OrCam’s tech is integrated on assistive-specific platforms that change the lives of those with visual impairments, learning and reading challenges,” he explains. “We enable rich, more independent life experiences.”
Previous Wins
The handheld OrCam Read device was named a TIME Magazine best invention of 2021.
OrCam won its first CES award in January 2020. The company was named Best of Innovation for accessibility (CTA) for OrCam Hear, the device that “empowers hearing impairment by identifying the person speaking – from multiple speakers – to the person wearing the device“. It isolates the voice while relaying the filtered speech to Bluetooth hearing aids in real-time. The device uses lip reading and body gestures to figure out which voice the user needs to hear and knows how to switch to a different voice when the user wants someone else to listen to. The device connects to a string and can be draped over the neck.
Last year the OrCam Read digital read was named a CES 2021 Best or Innovation honoree in the accessibility category. OrCam received the award ahead of the first all-digital CES 2021 event.
About OrCam Technologies
OrCam Technologies, a global leader in personal AI assistive technology platforms, was jointly founded in 2010 by Israeli innovators, Professor Ammon Shashua and Mr. Ziv Aviram, who are also the co-founders of Mobileye, (now an Intel company), the collision avoidance system leader and autonomous driving innovator. Inspired by this development of ground-breaking artificial vision technology that supports safer driving, OrCam harnesses highly advanced AI-driven computer vision and machine learning to provide increased independence to people who are blind or visually impaired, have reading challenges, or have hearing loss.
OrCam is set to go public this year. The company is hoping to raise $300 million in the IPO according to a valuation of $3 billion. OrCam is currently finalizing the list of underwriters for the public offering, which is set to be led by Goldman Sachs, which also guided Mobileye in its IPO. OrCam is planning to complete one more pre-IPO funding round in the near future in which it is set to raise $150-200 million at a valuation of $1.5 – 2 billion.
OrCam currently employs 200 people, most of them out of its headquarters in Jerusalem. According to estimates, OrCam is currently closing on annual revenue of $100 million and is profitable. It is most recent funding round was in 2018 when it raised $30 million at a valuation of just over $1 billion.
For more information: www.orcam.com
Media contact: Rafi Fischer, OrCam Technologies rafi.fischer AT orcam.com
Source: Times of Israel
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