Along with the steady advancement of information technology and the rapid spread of personal computers, even household appliances today are equipped with microprocessors. With this diversity, we are all required to learn and use many different types of hardware and software. Instead of this, OMRON believes that machines should adapt themselves to the requirements of individual users. This is essential in order to create a ubiquitous network society in which anyone can access information or services at any time and from anywhere.

Machines must be able to understand people and respond to their individual needs. To make this possible, machines must first have the ability to recognize each user visually by making determinations of identity, personal characteristics, current mood, etc. This can finally be realized using OMRON's accumulated expertise in Sensing and control technology.

Sensing and control technology can bring people and machines closer together and create a new harmonious relationship between them, which is what OMRON calls the "best match between machines and people."

Technology that learns from and exceeds the capabilities of human vision.

Every day, people are surrounded by huge amounts of information. It is said that human beings obtain nearly 80% of their information through visual images. In fact, a human being has as many as 1.2 billion visual cells-50,000 times the number of our 24,000 auditory cells. As the saying goes, "Seeing is believing," which emphasizes how vision is one of the most important human functions. Machines as well are required to handle a tremendous amount of image and video data as quickly and efficiently as possible in today's IT-reliant society.
To achieve the ideal interactive relationship between people and machinery, in which machines can assess and adapt to the requirements of individual users, the best way would be to equip machines with vision. Based on this belief, OMRON is committed to R&D for Vision Sensing, which is a sensing technology patterned after the principles of human vision. The key development concept behind this technology is to allow a machine to detect and understand objects or people visually in much the same way as people do. In fact, OMRON technologies can exceed the capabilities of human vision by correctly capturing and processing huge volumes of information at high speeds.

Three key areas of OMRON's vision sensing.

OMRON's Vision Sensing is roughly divided into three areas. The first area is "OKAO Vision," which is face sensing technology that senses and extracts useful information from facial images. By detecting various kinds of information contained in facial images, OMRON aims to provide services and interfaces customized for each individual. The second area is "Pattern Vision" character and mark recognition technology. Characters and marks are a means of information transmission that only humans can handle. OMRON's intention is to benefit an advanced information society by enabling the recognition of a diverse range of characters and marks. The third area is "Silhouette Vision," which is stereo vision sensing technology. Most of what we see in our daily lives consists of 3D objects. By accurately capturing automobiles and other moving objects three-dimensionally, OMRON strives to build systems that make people's lifestyles and society as a whole more secure and comfortable.

"Many different types of systems are currently operating in our society. I think that sensing capability plays an essential role in assuring that these systems keep running safely and efficiently. If sensors could become smarter enough to recognize a much broader range of information, system control performance would improve even further, making our society a more convenient place to live in. Through steady advancements in vision sensors, I believe we can make a sizable contribution to making these things a reality." (Masatoshi Kimachi, Vision Sensing Technologies, Sensing Technology Laboratory) "It would be great if all of the machines around us could provide services and interfaces that are optimized for each one of us. Once this is accomplished, we truly realize our philosophy of 'To the machine the work of the machine, to man the thrill of further creation.'"

Masato Kawade
senior manager, Vision Sensing Technologies
Sensing Technology Laboratory