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Defence industry veteran Sonny Foster has been appointed chief executive officer to lead new growth in Australian-based computer vision start-up Visionary Machines.
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The former Collins Aerospace managing director will join Visionary Machines alongside former Collins Aerospace Australian Programs vice-president Nick Gibbs, who also joined the team as chief operating officer.
The new appointments coincide with the new growth phase of vision-based sensor technology and transition to a commercial focus, alongside the company’s initial target markets including defence, emergency services, mining and logistics, according to a statement on 8 February.
Chief executive officer Sonny Foster said the technical breakthroughs made by Visionary Machines over the last 12 months have been impressive and game-changing for the industry.
“The sensor system is robust, increasingly compact and has multispectral vision, meaning that unlike other sensor modalities, it can see in all weather and lighting conditions,” Foster said.
“Combined with the increasingly urgent need for passive sensor systems, Visionary Machines is in a unique position and one that we will be looking to rapidly capitalise on.
“Nick and I have been impressed with the technology, the team, and are excited by the opportunity to take Visionary Machines forward as the global leader in computer vision.”
The Pandion vision-based perception system uses 3D sensing to display distance to elements in the environment in real-time. The system is completely passive and works in all weather conditions by combining visible light and infrared light in one camera array.
Gibbs said the commercialisation of innovation supported by government funding has the potential to deliver hugely significant economic and employment opportunities for Australia.
“In cases where that innovation directly benefits the government itself, as is the case with Visionary Machines’ disruptive enhancement of our defence capabilities, the benefits come full circle,” he said.
Foster and Gibbs bring more than 55 years of collective experience, comprehensive market understanding, engineering and technical management backgrounds to Visionary Machines, having been directly responsible for the successful growth of Collins Aerospace in Australia.
“We are extremely excited to have Sonny and Nick join Visionary Machines,” said current VM chief executive officer and co-founder Gary Aitchison.
“To attract this kind of talent at this stage of the business development is a great barometer of the potential of our product. Any machine that wants to act autonomously needs to know the world around it and that’s the solution we’ve developed.
“Our product, together with the combined business acumen and proven ability of both these executives to successfully take industry-leading technologies to market will enable Visionary Machines to capitalise on the significant research and development investment and pursue opportunities in the defence and commercial industries.”
