Eagle Eye Networks has acquired AI company Uncanny Vision — a move which the company hopes will accelerate its leadership in providing AI and analytics to businesses. Included in the acquisition is a new regional office in Bangalore, India, and research and development capabilities.
“With the acquisition of Uncanny Vision, we have a very large team delivering AI for video surveillance,” said Eagle Eye Networks CEO Dean Drako. “It’s a game change for retail. Together we are going to make AI practical for retail.”
This move is in line with the plan Eagle Eye announced in November 2020 to reshape video surveillance.
“[The acquisition] is going to make [loss prevention professionals’] jobs a lot easier, and it’s going to make the loss prevention folks even more valuable to the overall business,” Drako said. “The LP and security teams will use AI to reduce loss, increase profits, and deliver timely business insights to the C-Suite.”
All 60 Uncanny Vision employees will be retained, and Eagle Eye plans to expand the Bangalore office. Uncanny Vision co-founders Ranjith Parakkal and Navaneethan Sundaramoorthy have joined the Eagle Eye leadership team.
“We share the Eagle Eye team’s vision to deliver advanced, cyber-secure AI cloud video surveillance offerings that transform video surveillance for businesses around the globe,” Parakkal said.
Uncanny Vision’s AI is currently being used in a variety of applications, including: retail analytics, smart parking, gate security, toll automation, ATM monitoring, and perimeter security.
Drako said that retail is a large market for Eagle Eye, and one in which they are especially excited to offer AI.
“We have seen retail establishments of all sizes move their video surveillance systems to the cloud in droves,” Drako said. “They want to try video analytics and AI without having to install, configure, and maintain complicated, expensive on-site hardware.”