A Chat with Kevin Gordon, VP of AI Technologies at NexOptic

NexOptic is a technology company with a focus on software solutions for the imaging industry. Our suite of AI solutions, called Aliis, integrates into smartphones, content creation cameras, video streaming platforms, security cameras, medical imaging instruments, surveillance systems and more to supercharge image and video enhancement, while compressing data. This reduces file sizes for cloud storage, but still retains — or improves — the quality.
 
 

 

What do you think makes this company unique?

 
What differentiates NexOptic from others in our industry is that we’re focused on the foundational elements of image creation. Most other companies are creating algorithms that ‘read’ images and videos, in order to determine what’s in them (such as counting the number of humans in a shot).

We’ve built our Aliis AI to incorporate into image sensors to process raw data in real time, in order to ‘manipulate’ the image – not to change it, but to enhance its characteristics. Aliis is powerful in extreme low-light conditions, and works pixel-by-pixel to perfect the image.
 

 How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

 
There’s a pivot story here for us. NexOptic actually began as an optics hardware company, aimed at creating optical technologies for commercial use. Smartphone lenses, a handheld telescope with built-in digital binoculars. But in the process of that development, we realized that we needed a software component to really offer a complete package. So while we worked on that software, we realized that the software itself could be a standalone product.

Then COVID hit, the economy slowed, and we had to question the viability of bringing a binocular product to market. We started to focus on the AI. Software is much easier to scale. Our team could develop it remotely, and licensing is simpler to obtain. We’ve since partnered with the Korean government to test our technology on an auto-pilot initiative. And our tech has found its way into the first 4K high resolution single-use endoscope in the medical industry.
 

What can we hope to see from NexOptic in the future?

 
In the next year or two, our strategy is to build our presence in the AI imaging space. We’re rolling out the latest component of Aliis – called NexCompress.

Together, the software compresses large video files while heightening their visual caliber. Our product could be a critical component in delivering streaming content to billions of people who subscribe to services like Netflix or Prime Video – the services reduce their costs to host content on the cloud, but still deliver the same high-quality movies and shows to their customers. And we’re working towards integrating on the edge side as well, such as having our software running on mobile devices. The entire team is excited for this next phase for sure.