Aviv Shapira, is the Co-Founder, and CEO at XTEND, a revolutionary human-guided autonomous programs permit any operator, with no flight expertise, to remotely carry out extraordinarily correct maneuvers and actions.
Might you share the genesis story behind XTEND?
The genesis of XTEND started in 2018 when our CTO, Rubi Liani, first translated his ardour for drones into discovering an answer to the incendiary balloons menace on the Israeli-Gaza border. Rubi was satisfied that drones may very well be used to neutralise the balloons, whereas providing a secure, distant method for professionals in varied eventualities to do their jobs higher.
My brother, Matteo, and I, who’re prolonged actuality specialists, teamed up with Rubi and Adir Tubi, a protection specialist, who’s now our CQO, to develop a spread of drones and most significantly, XOS, a uniquely scalable, inexpensive, and infinitely versatile working system, which permits people to attach and work together with drones, robots, autos, good units, and good machines remotely, safely, and intuitively.
Right this moment XOS is revolutionizing ‘human to machine’ interplay. Letting nearly anybody to regulate a number of distant machines concurrently – utilizing superior VR expertise, on prime of an AI layer. Alongside defence, XOS is now offering a brand new method for public security, inspection, and homeland safety professionals to work together with machines just about in varied non-combat eventualities.
Your earlier VR firm was offered to Intel and was rebranded as Intel Sports activities, what was the inspiration behind this firm and what was it particularly? How did that inform/form your ambition for XTEND?
We based Replay Applied sciences in 2011 and had been acquired by Intel in 2016, at which level Intel rebranded the enterprise into Intel Sports activities Group (ISG). Replay supplied distinctive 3D video rendering capabilities, which we known as “free dimensional” or freeD™ video. freeD allowed sports activities followers to get a 360-degree view of key performs in a spread of sports activities. Freezing motion from any angle, then rotating round it, a bit like bullet scene particular results we noticed within the Matrix film. I spent 2 additional years as Senior Director of Operations and Manufacturing for Intel Sports activities Group, the place we utilized freeD in varied prolonged actuality eventualities throughout a number of sports activities.
There is no such thing as a doubt that these experiences formed our imaginative and prescient for XTEND and XOS. Igniting our ardour for augmented actuality, digital actuality, robotics, and AI, and understanding how better of breed expertise may very well be used to revolutionize ‘human to machine’ interplay.
XTEND Programs has designed an interface to work together remotely with machines, may you elaborate on how this works?
The drone business has taken off like a rocket, particularly on the subject of “distant operations” and an operator’s means to regulate drones from distant areas. For the previous 4 years, XTEND has been growing a brand new and progressive expertise known as Distant Interactive Operations (RIO). The benefit of RIO is that it not solely permits professionals to de-risk their operations by interactively working drones or robots from a distant location, but it surely additionally permits them to make real-time selections and alter the way in which they perform advanced duties in actual time.
Whereas many corporations present distant operations capabilities, we’re hyper focussed on ‘human to machine’ interplay and bringing interactive options to drone operations. We observe one main rule – “seeing” the distant surroundings isn’t sufficient. We imagine we have to incorporate extra human senses and capabilities, corresponding to contact and sound, into the method.
This goes utterly towards what many within the business are doing, as they try to get rid of human operators from distant operations. However we firmly imagine the development of machines doesn’t want to return on the expense of human operators, and when the 2 are paired collectively, they unlock a world of infinite alternatives.
With the person and that want for human capabilities at the point of interest of our imaginative and prescient, we developed XOS, our very personal patented Working System to allow true human and machine collaboration. XTEND’s Working System (XOS) permits anybody to simply join and work together inside distant environments utilizing drones and different good machines, with out the necessity for prior information or coaching. Permitting operators to maneuver, see, work together, and run third social gathering functions on distant machines exactly, intuitively, and immersively – utilizing a mix of augmented actuality, digital actuality, robotics, and AI.
What are some ways in which XTEND Programs makes use of AI?
XTEND’s drones all use AI to energy vital performance like detection, facial recognition, and monitoring. By constructing our XOS working system XOS from the underside up, we had been in a position to create a patented ‘App Retailer’ which makes every bit of robotic {hardware} that makes use of our working system way more succesful and versatile through the use of software program functions, together with a whole lot of AI apps.
XOS additionally permits people to be current on the most important level of distant missions with its “final mile capabilities”, wherein a human operator remotely “enters” and takes management of a machine at its closing stage of a mission or when our automated machine alerts inform an operator that human intervention is required.
For readers who’re unfamiliar with the time period prolonged actuality, may you outline what it’s and the way it differs from augmented or digital actuality?
We coined the phrase ‘prolonged actuality’ to explain how XOS extends the probabilities of ‘human to machine’ interplay. Connecting individuals with machines in a brand new method, by mixing the most recent AR, VR, and robotics expertise with AI, to offer operators the power to be distant but current, no matter whether or not they’re 1000’s of miles or a number of ft away.
The expertise has the potential to avoid wasting lives, may you stroll via a few of these use circumstances?
Day-after-day persons are risking their lives to make our world safer. Our intention is to create a world the place people don’t need to go the place they shouldn’t go. XOS is completely suited to working units in civilian eventualities, offering a brand new method for people to work together with machines just about. That means a spread of advanced duties that require human to machine interplay will be carried out at a secure distance by first responders, inspectors, and safety professionals, who’re consultants of their discipline, fairly than skilled pilots or drivers of the machine they’re utilizing. XOS is being utilized by a whole lot of defence and safety personnel throughout the globe, enabling machines to go the place people mustn’t.
XTEND Programs was lately awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to modernize their use of drone expertise. Might you share some particulars relating to this?
Sure, we had been lately awarded a $25M contract by Israel’s Ministry of Defence for the event and provide of a first-of-its-kind multi-drone working system.
The brand new joint mission with MAFAT, the Israeli Ministry of Directorate of Defence Analysis & Growth, will see XOS allow the distant, secure, and intuitive operation of dozens of human-guided semi-autonomous drones concurrently, using the most recent digital actuality, edge processing and AI expertise.
XOS will permit XTEND’s drones to be deployed remotely by navy models in varied eventualities exactly, intuitively, and immersively. The distinctive and ground-breaking joint initiative, which embodies the IDF and XTEND’s shared imaginative and prescient of enabling drones to grow to be extra than simply one other “eye within the sky”, will allow operators to regulate, work together, and run third social gathering functions on the drones remotely, preserving forces out of hazard, whereas fusing an operator’s experience with machine autonomy, VR and AI.
What are among the different use circumstances behind XTEND Programs?
After three years of stay operations, we’re increasing into new markets to make sure Distant Interactive Operations are accessible to everybody. Our intention has at all times been to make XOS the working system of alternative in a spread of eventualities, exterior defence. Permitting a spread of pros to regulate remote-powered drones and good machines and perform advanced duties that require human interplay and decision-making remotely. We’re at present driving functions of XTEND’s expertise, and our scalable and infinitely versatile XOS working system, in public security, homeland safety, and inspection. Our intention is to start revolutionizing human and machine interactions in manufacturing, logistics, journey, leisure, and different civilian markets very quickly.
What’s your imaginative and prescient for the way forward for prolonged actuality?
Our world doesn’t have sufficient sources or options to handle our pressing wants.
We should discover new methods to increase our capabilities. Our mission is to create extensions to human-machine teaming. The place machines go the place individuals shouldn’t. And do what individuals shouldn’t.
The world doesn’t have sufficient individuals to maintain it secure. Till now.
Thanks for the good interview, readers who want to study extra ought to go to XTEND.
